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SEYMOUR   DURST 


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Jju~  JL  vfw^-c^— 


Ex-chaplain  ol  the  I  ombs. 


Scenes  and  Reminiscences  Coming  Down  to  the 

Present.— A  Story  Stranger  Than  Fiction, 

With  an  Historic  Account  of 

America's  Most  Famous 

Prison. 


By 

JOHN   JOSIAH    MUNRO, 

Ex-Chaplein  of  the  Tombs. 


(Illustrated) 


BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

Printed  and   Published  by  the  Author, 
at  1 86  Ainslie  Street. 

PRICE,  $1.50. 


v-w 


Copyrighted,  1909, 

by 

John  J.  Munro, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 


Thomas  J.  Bl.mn,  prwtcr, 
PORT  CHE8TBB,  NKW  VORic. 


INTRODUCTION. 

By  Rev.  Madison  C.  Peters,  D.  D. 

I  have  known  the  author  of  this  book  for  many  years. 
He  was  once  associated  with  me  in  my  ministerial  work. 
I  know  all  about  his  work  as  Chaplain  of  the  Tombs,  and 
have  often  spoken  with  him  about  the  conditions  prevailing 
in  that  institution,  and  have  again  and  again  urged  him  to 
tell  the  public  all  he  knows  about  its  inside  workings.  I 
have  every  reason  to  believe  from  what  I  know  of  the 
author,  that  he  has  written  a  true  story,  one  which  every 
citizen  of  Greater  New  York  should  read,  and  which  ought 
to  arouse  the  red-hot  blood  of  every  lover  of  his  kind. 

The  book  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  of  every  clergyman, 
lawyer,  physician,  and  of  every  good  citizen.  It  will  fur- 
nish material  for  sermons  and  addresses,  and  give  impulse 
and  impetus  to  all  the  workers  for  social  betterment,  and 
bring  to  us  the  blessings  of  Him  who  said:  "I  was  in 
prison  and  ye  visited  Me." 


THANKS. 

In  the  preparation  of  this  work,  I  feel  I  am  under  last- 
ing obligations  for  discriminating  advice  and  kindly  sugges- 
tions tendered  me  at  different  times  by  many  friends.  But 
I  am  under  special  debt  to  Mr.  George  H.  Sandison,  Man- 
aging Editor,  and  J.  A.  Belford,  Art  Editor  of  the  Christian 
Herald,  for  valuable  suggestions. 

I  also  express  my  sincere  thanks  to  the  Rev.  Madison 
C.  Peters,  D.  D.,  whose  clarion  voice  against  wrongs  and 
abuses  of  various  kinds  has  been  heard  all  over  Greater  New 
York,  for  many  helpful  suggestions.  I  am  also  thankful  to 
many  of  the  New  York  magazines  and  papers  for  kind 
words  and  much  interest  in  articles  of  mine  on  Prison 
Work  that  have  appeared  from  time  to  time.  These  maga- 
zines and  papers  include  Harper's  Weekly,  Success,  Van 
Norden,  Intelligencer,  Christian  Advocate,  Examiner, 
Press,  Presbyterian,  Witness  and  many  others. 

I  extend  my  thanks  also  to  Messrs.  Harper  &  Bro.,  for 
the  use  of  a  cut,  and  to  the  Evening  Journal  for  the  loan 
of  photographs. 

The  Author. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

The  Author,  Rev.  John  J.  Munro 
Children's  Court 
General  Sessions  Judges 
Criminal  Branch  of  Supreme  Court 
Ex-Police  Commissioner  Theodore  A.  Bingham 
Police  Commissioner  Baker  at  His  Desk 
New  Tombs  Prison 
Corridor  of  Women's  Prison 
Old  Tombs  Entrance  on  Leonard  Street 
Davis,  Who  Pardoned  Himself  Out  of  Prison 
Sing  Sing  Prison  Entrance 
Sing  Sing  Chapel 
The  Death  Chamber  at  Sing  Sing 
New  Police  Headquarters 
Sunday  Morning  Service  in  the  Old  Tombs 
Old   Police  Headquarters 
Justice  Blanchard  of  Supreme  Court 
Justice  Goff  of  the  Supreme  Court 
The  Bridge  of  Sighs 

Hon  C.  V.  Collins,  Superintendent  of  Prisons 
Hon.  John  F.  McIntyre,  Criminal  Lawyer 
Scene  in  the  Tenderloin  Station  House 
Mrs.  John  A.  Foster,  the  Tombs  Angel 
Putting  a  Crook  Through  the  "Third  Degree"  at  Po- 
lice Headquarters 
Roll  Call  in  a  Station  House  at  Midnight 
Men's  Prison 
Women's  Prison 


CONTENTS. 
FOREWORD 

PERSONAL  EXPERIENCES 

The  strange  circumstances  of  a  visit  to  the  Tombs  on  an 

errand  of  mercy. — Early  impressions  more  than 

thirty    years    ago. — Recollections — 

Humane  Overseers. 

Page  11 

CHAPTER  I. 

WHAT  I  KNOW  ABOUT  THE  TOMBS 

A  modern  Prison  Barracks — Personal  Experiences — Amaz- 
ing   stories    of    corruption — Ruth     Howard's    bomb — 
Charges  pigeon-holed — Commissioner  Hynes'  Admin- 
istration— Bissert   in   clover — Drunken    prisoners — 
The  gamblers'  paradise — Lawyers  and    clients — 
Privileges  for  the  few — Abusing  the  unfor- 
tunate— The     food — Tammany     Poli- 
tics— City  Prisons  in  charge 
of  State  authorities. 

Page  17 

CHAPTER  II. 

AN  HISTORICAL  ACCOUNT  OF  AMERICA'S  MOST 
FAMOUS  PRISON 

The   Collect   Pond   of  three  generations  ago — King  Wil- 
liam's   Experience — Agitation    to    fill    up — How    it 
came  to  be  called  the  Tombs — Size  of  the  old 
Tombs — Retrospect — The    New     Tombs — 
When    Opened — The    semi- 
official characters. 

Page  29 


CHAPTER  III. 
MODERN  EXCUSES  FOR  CRIME 

Criminal    instincts — Moral   defectives — Inducing    men    to 
commit  crime — Examples — The   fair   sex   as 
tempters — The     irresistible     im- 
pulse— Drawing  the  line. 

Page  38 

CHAPTER  IV. 

HOW  CRIMINALS  ARE  MADE 

Increase    in    crime — Fierce    modern    temptations — Strong 
drink  as  a  crime  maker — Immigration — Glad- 
stone's dictum — Finding  the  causes — 
Is  there  a  remedy? 

Page  45 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  SCIENTIFIC  CRIMINAL 

The  criminal  product  of  the  20th  century — A  crook's  out- 
fit— Criminal    character — Beating    the   law — An- 
thropology— Lombroso  as  an  authority  on 
crime — Crime  and  the   Nation — 
Repressive  measures. 

Page  50 

CHAPTER  VI. 

SOME  FAMOUS  TOMBS  PRISONERS 

The  irony  of  fate — The  innocent  and  guilty — Monroe  Ed- 
wards— Murderers'   Row — Scannel,   Crocker, 
Erastus  Wyman,  Ferdinand  Ward, 
Buchanan,  Carlyle  Harris, 
Patrick  and  Thaw. 

Page  57 

II 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  DANGEROUS  EDUCATED  CROOK 

The  fallacy  that    education  cures    crime — Moral    training 
necessary — John    Howard    and    education —     In- 
dustry and  crime — Elmira's  experience — 
Where   the   educated  crook  is 
dangerous — Examples. 

Page  62 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

LEAVES  FROM  THE  HISTORY  OF  A 
CHECKERED  CAREER 

The  remarkable  confessions  of  one  of  the  brightest,  brain- 
iest and  smartest  crooks  of  his  day. 

How  He  Pardoned  Himself  Out  of  Prison 

Admits   total    depravity — His   prayer — Serving  time    in   a 
Coal    Mine — Impersonating   a    clergyman — 
Feigning  to  be  deaf  and  dumb — Be- 
moaning His  sad  condition. 

Page  67 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  A  CROOK 

How  a  Young  Life  Was  Wrecked 

A  New  England  ancestry — An  indulgent  mother — Idleness 
and  bad  company — The  feelings  of  a  guilty  con- 
science— Work     or     crime,     which? — State 
prison — Liberty — Again     arrested — 
A  new  career  in  crime — 
Many  burglaries. 

Page  75 

III 


CHAPTER  X. 

WANDERING  STARS  AND  BUZZARDS  OF  THE  TOMBS 
Thrilling  Experiences 

The  study  of  human   nature — Deception   of  the  looks — 
Chronic   liars — A   deserter  from    Russia — Chump   of 
Harlem — Many  dark  records — Four  years  for  tell- 
ing a  lie— Capt.  Jack— Crooked  Kahn— The 
Panel  Crooks — Wilson's  career — The 
dress  slasher — Amazing  cheek. 

Page  81 

CHAPTER  XI. 

BRILLIANT  FORGERY  CROOKS 

Forgery  as  a  fine  art — A  skilled  crime — Forgery  experts — - 


Becker,  the  King  of  Forgers — His  career- 
Three  of  a  kind. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


Page  100 


CHANGING  THE  GRAND  JURY  INTO  A  BOARD  OF 
CRIMINAL  EXPERTS 

A  New  Classification  of  Criminals 

Popular  demand  to  abolish  the  Grand  Jury — Judges  ask  for 

legal  indictments — Too  rapid  work  in  Grand  Jury  room — 

The  weakness  of  the  system — Rich  men  on  the  Grand 

Jury — Under  the    control  of    District-Attorney — 

Board  of  Criminal  Experts — Save  the  county 

millions      of      dollars — Cases — An 

original  classification. 

Page   108 

IV 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

SCHOOLS  OF  CRIME 

How   Young   Crooks  are  Educated 

Crime  both  infectious  and  contagious — Importing  crooks — 

New   York    prisons,    crime    breeders — Modern 

Fagins — Breaking     up     Faginism — Best 

remedy    morality    in    the 

public  schools. 

Page  120 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

YOUTHFUL  DELINQUENTS  AND  THE  CHILDREN'S 
COURT 

The  cause  of  temptations — Reasons  for  children  in  crime — 
Evil   resorts — Conversations   with   child  criminals — The 
German    boy — The    Children's     Court — Its    origin — 
Crime  among    poor   children    the    result    of   social 
conditions — Incorrigibles — The  good  work  of  the 
Children's   Aid    Society — Foolish    "cod- 
dling" of  lawless  children. 

Page   126 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  ROD  AS  A  REFORMATIVE  AGENT  IN  THE  EDU- 
CATION OF  YOUTHFUL  LAWBREAKERS 

A  recent  ruling  on  corporal  punishment — Favored  by  best 
prison    reformers — Horace    Mann — School     Principals 
and    teachers — Supt.    Brockway — What    they    do    in 
England  and  Germany — Rights  of  parents — Law- 
less    homes — Crime    more     demoralizing     than 
pain — An     experienced     probation 
officer — What  others  say. 

Page   133 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

CRIME  AMONG  WOMEN 

(1)  The  Social  Evil.     (2)  Felonies.      (3)  The  Shoplifter. 

Causes  of  crime  among  women — Reasons  for  moral  leprosy 
— The  Cadet  system — How  carried   on — Examples — 
The    celestials    of     Chinatown — Women    of    the 
Tombs — Mother  Maundelbaum — Queen  Ber- 
tha— A     belle     from     old     Kentucky — 
Others — The    modern    shop- 
lifter— Examples. 

Page  139 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
THE  STEAL  OR  STARVE  UNFORTUNATES 

A  great  omission — Poverty  and  social  conditions  the  cause 

of    crime — The    unemployed — Hungry    children — 

Poverty  homes   and   crime — What   ex-convicts 

say — Hungry  men  commit  crime  to  be 

sent  to  prison — Want  food. 

Page  151 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
HOW  YOUNG  MEN  BREAK  INTO  PRISON 

Startling  facts — Save  young  men — The  way  of  the  trans- 
gressor— How  young  men  go   down — Example — Per- 
centage of  young  men — Opinion  of  Supt.  Brock- 
way — Generators  of  crime — Fast  living — 
Examples— Bad  associates- 
Need  of  agencies. 

Page   157 

VI 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

OUR  POLICE  GUARDIANS 

Prevention  better  than  cure — An  experienced  Superintend- 
ent— Politics    the    curse    of    the    Department — The 
Lexow   investigations — The    single-headed   Com- 
missioner— Present  standing  of  the  Police — 
The  work  of  a  policeman — The  cost 
of  the   police   for    1909 — 
General  Bingham. 

Page   164 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  DETECTIVE  BUREAU 

The  Detective  Bureau — Early  heads — Modern   methods — 
Crime  as  a  science — The  Dewey  parade — Detec- 
tives in  disguise — Old  world  methods — 
Scotland  Yard  and  French  methods 
— The  work  of    the   stool 
pigeon — Examples. 

Page   171 

CHAPTER  XXI. 
THE  ROGUES'  GALLERY  AND  THE  THIRD  DEGREE 

The  Gallery — Measurement  of  crooks— Clippings — Up  to 

date  records — Arrests  last  year — Curiosities  of  crime 

— Mugging  crooks — The  third  degree,  what  is 

it — Inspector  Byrnes  and  Jake  Sharp — 

The  third  degree  in  Germany. 

Page  179 

VII 


CHAPTER  XXII. 
THE  CITY  GANGS 

City  gangs  for  sixty  years — Political   clans — The  Bloody 
Sixth — The  Whyo  Gang — How  they  lived — Rela- 
tion to  crime — Paul  Kelly  and  Monk 
Eastman  Gangs — Their  East 
Side  pull. 

Page   185 
CHAPTER  XXIII. 

CRIMINAL  TRIALS  AND  THE  GLORIOUS  UNCERTAINTY 
OF  THE  LAW 

Noted  criminal  trials — Catering  to  depraved  tastes — Some 
great    trials — Legal    loopholes — Beating    the    case — 
Many  trials  a  farce — Swift  justice  for  criminals — 
Homicide  trials — Lax  condition  of  courts — 
Greasing  the   machinery   of   the    law — 
Crooks  at  the  bar  of  justice — Noted 
criminal  lawyers — Strange  sen- 
tences— Examples. 

Page   190 
CHAPTER  XXIV. 

CRIMINAL  BRANCH  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT 

The  new  Constitution — Abolition  of  the  Oyer  and  Terminer 
— An   exclusively  criminal  court — The  highest  Court 
in  the  State — Criminal  branch   of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  session  nine  months — Cases  of  great 
public  importance — Narrow  margin   be- 
tween civil  and  criminal  law — Dead 
sympathies — Variety   of   think- 
ing— Merging  the  General 
Sessions. 

Page  202 

VIII 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

SHARKS  AND  SHYSTERS  OF  OUR  CRIMINAL  COURTS 

Fallen  on  evil  days — Robbing  clients — Examples — Steerers 
and  policemen — The  City  and  District  pris- 
ons— Grafting  around  Courts. 

Page  206 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

SCENES  IN  OUR  POLICE  COURTS 

The  sorting  Criminal  Bureau — How  crooks  are  gathered  in 

the  pens — The  Magistrates'  Court — The  shyster  and 

ward  heeler — The  power  of  a  pull — Examples — 

Mike       Maguire — The       drunks — Sunday 

morning  at  the  Tombs  Court — Small 

justice — Good  Judges. 

Page  213 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

CROOKED  CROOKS  IN  PRISONS 

Crime  Committed  in  Penal  Institutions 

Brilliant  men  in  prison — Bold  crooks — Dr.  Robertson's  ex- 
perience with  crooks — Shepp  of  New  York — A 
big  undertaking — His  success — Counter- 
feiters in  Auburn — Big  discovery — 
Sent  to  Clinton  Prison. 

Page  219 

IX 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

SCENES    DURING  VISITING  HOURS  IN  THE  TOMBS 

A  polyglot  assembly — Many  nationalities — Pathetic  scene* 

— The  guilty  son — The  young  woman — Mothers 

kneeling — The  newsboy — Murderers'   Row 

— Negroes  —  Italians  —  Germans 

— The  prisoner's  plaint. 

Page  226 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

DOES  IMPRISONMENT  REFORM? 

A  hard  question — Changing  character — Cure  for  crime — 
Brooding  over  the  past — Born  crooks — Lines  of 
circumvallation — Efforts  made  to  reform — 
Evolution  of  prison  reform — Needed 
reforms    to-day — The   great- 
est barrier. 

Page  236 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

STRONG  DRINK  AND  CRIME 

Personal  observations  of  the  effect  of  strong  drink — Close 
the  saloons  and  you  will  close  the  prisons — Moral 
supineness — A    New    York    expert    on 
murders — The  Medical  News — 
Empty  jails  in  Prohi- 
bition States. 

Page  243 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  ANGELS  OF  THE  TOMBS 

The  phrase  originally  given  to  only  two  missionary  work- 
ers— How  Mrs.  Schaffner  became  a  Tombs  Angel 
— Her  work  as  a  missionary — The  second 
Tombs  Angel,  Mrs.  John  A.  Forster — 
A   night   in   the  Death   House — 
How  missionaries  are 
deceived. 

Page  248 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

■ 
WEDDINGS  OF  THE  TOMBS 

Marriages  performed  since  1838 — Two  kinds,  voluntary  and 

compulsory — One  of  the  earliest  marriages — 

Married  on  the  train  to  Sing  Sing — 

Lawyer    Patrick's   venture — 

Other  marriages. 

Page  256 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 
AFTER  SENTENCE,  WHAT? 

From  Tombs  to  State  Prison — English  system — Received  in 
prison — Initiation,     classification     and    shops — A 
prison  reformer — What  he  has  done  to  im- 
prove the  prisoner's  lot — A  new  dis- 
cipline— The    soul   of 
reformation. 

Page  261 

XI 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE  INFLICTION  OF  THE  DEATH  PENALTY  IN  THE 
TOMBS 

John  C.  Colt — A  suicide — Hanging  day  in  the  Tombs — The 

hanging  of  Harry    Carlton — Scenes    around 

the  building — Official  list  of 

the  executed. 

Page  269 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

A  VISIT  TO  THE  DEATH  HOUSE  AT  SING  SING 

A  never-to-be-forgotten  visit — Supreme  Court  orders — The 

earliest     victims — The    escape     of    Pallister 

and  Roche — What  I  saw — The  men 

present — Casconea's 

experience. 

Page  277 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

A  TRAMP  COLONY 

What  shall  be  done  with  our  tramps? — Organize  a  colony 
— How  graded — Working  on  business  principles — The 
cost  of  such  an  undertaking — What  the  French 
do — Habitual  criminals  and  misdemean- 
ants— How  they  may  be  segregat- 
ed and  classified. 

Page  284 

XII 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE  COST  OF  CRIME  IN  GREATER  NEW  YORK 

A  staggering  question — Rickers  Prison — A  national  waste 
—  careful  study  of  the  cost  of  crime — Crime  on  the 
increase — Direct   expenditures — Indirect    ex- 
penditures— Tables  showing  how  money 
is    spent — Criminal    loop- 
holes— Results. 

Page  291 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

THE  AGE  OF  GRAFT. 

The  bane  of  our  municipal  government — New  York's  pros- 
perity— What  it  cost  to  run  the  city — Assessments  and 
commissions — Ancient  and  modern  grafters — Po- 
lice  graft — Fortunes   for   the    few — Various 
grafting  schemes — The  new 
water  works. 

Page  296 


XIII 


A  Sunday  morning  service  in  the  old  Tombs  prison. 


FOREWORD 
Some  Personal  Experiences 

My  first  visit  to  the  grim  old  Tombs  Prison  was  in  the 
early  part  of  1875.  I  have  never  forgotten  that  visit  and 
the  deep  impression  it  left  on  my  mind.  The  scenes  I  wit- 
nessed that  day  have  come  back  to  me  scores  of  times  and 
I  have  wished  that  I  had  the  power  to  have  changed  the 
things  I  then  saw.  At  any  rate,  that  memorable  experi- 
ence started  in  my  soul  a  deeper  sympathy  and  pity  for 
erring  humanity. 

Afterwards  I  spent  much  time  visiting  the  old  prison,  as* 
I  had  the  opportunity,  and  I  found  it  a  splendid  place  for 
the  study  of  human  nature,  and  especially  the  criminal  side 
of  life. 

When  speaking  to  New  Yorkers  of  the  scenes  I  had  wit- 
nessed in  this  prison,  I  found  them  to  be  densely  ignorant 
of  its  history  and  management.  Why  should  they  take  any 
interest  in  the  old  Tombs?  New  Yorkers  are  too  busy  in 
commercial  pursuits  to  give  much  time  to  such  trifles!  I 
found,  however,  after  they  were  aroused  on  the  subject  of 
abuses  they  wished  to  know  everything,  and  they  wondered 
like  myself  why  politics  should  be  allowed  to  have  such  a 
controlling  power  in  the  City  Prison. 

At  this  time  I  was  a  lay  missionary.  My  field  of  labor 
was  the  old  "Red  Light  District."  This  part  of  New  York 
was  not  as  densely  populated  as  now.  It  contained  a  large 
number  of  people,  mostly  of  the  thrifty  Irish  and  German 
class.     It  had  many  large  tenements  which  contained  from 


12  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

eight  to  twelve  families,  which  were  veritable  "bee  hives" 
of  the  human  species. 

While  visiting,  not  far  from  Essex  Market  Court,  a  lady 
informed  me  that  a  member  of  my  Sunday  School  was  then 
in  the  Tombs,  and  asked  me  to  go  and  see  him.  This  was 
new  work  for  me  and  I  confess,  I  did  not  know  how  to  go 
about  it.  I  called  to  see  the  boy's  mother,  who  kept  a  beer 
garden  in  the  neighborhood.  But  I  could  get  nothing  out 
of  her,  and  came  away  feeling  that  my  labor  was  all  in  vain. 
The  woman  was  so  much  absorbed  in  her  saloon  business 
and  so  benumbed  and  besotted  with  beer  that  she  seemed 
devoid  of  all  motherly  instinct  and  feeling.  And  she  seem- 
ed not  to  care  the  snap  of  her  finger  about  her  boy. 

After  a  good  deal  of  difficulty  I  made  my  way  to  the 
Boys'  Prison  in  the  Tombs,  which  was  in  the  rear  of  the 
building.  To  my  amazement  I  found  a  crowd  of  young 
thieves  and  pickpockets  huddled  together,  and  this  Sunday 
School  lad  in  the  midst.  In  those  days  the  authorities 
made  no  attempt  at  segregation  or  discrimination.  The 
boys  were  all  together,  cursing  and  howling  like  a  lot  of 
devils!  I  was  pained  beyond  measure,  and  I  regret  to  say 
when  I  returned  to  the  City  Prison  after  nearly  twenty 
years,  almost  the  same  condition  existed.  I  found  the 
Boys'  Prison  in  a  filthy  condition — damp  and  foul,  more  fit 
for  hogs  than  human  beings,  and  this  besides  the  continual 
noises,  yelling,  howling,  cursing,  swearing  and  cat-calls  in 
ten  languages! 

I  made  a  hurried  investigation  and  saw  the  authorities, 
after  which  the  boy  was  discharged  and  returned  home. 
He  never  forgot  his  experience  in  that  gloomy  old  prison ! 
I  kept  watch  of  him  but  I  do  not  think  he  was  ever  the 
same  person.  Those  few  days  in  the  Tombs  as  the  com- 
panion of  thieves  and  pickpockets  not  only  marred  his 
future  life  but  came  near  blasting  his  usefulness  forever! 

I  kept  up  my  interest  in  the  poor,  gaunt,  ill  clad,  badly 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  13 

fed  and  poverty  stricken  unfortunates  of  the  old  Tombs,  a 
large  number  of  whom  were  criminals  simply  because  of 
their  social  conditions  and  for  no  other  reason.  I  was  a 
frequent  visitor  till  my  graduation  from  Union  Theological 
Seminary  in  1880. 

In  1897  I  again  took  up  my  residence  in  New  York.  I 
felt  my  interest  in  prison  labors  come  back  with  the  fresh- 
ness of  youth,  and  at  once  gave  my  Sundays  to  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  work. 

I  have  found  that  the  Boys'  Prison  has  always  been  the 
hardest  department  to  manage  in  the  entire  Tombs  system. 
Sometimes  a  keeper  was  placed  in  charge  who  knew  how 
to  handle  boys.  But  in  later  years  the  conditions  were 
worse  than  ever.  We  knew  one  keeper  who  was  a  common 
scold.  He  swore  at  the  boys  and  they  swore  back  at  him, 
using  the  most  vulgar  and  lurid  profanity.  Then  they 
would  steal  from  each  other,  fight  among  themselves  like 
old  time  pugilists  and  they  could  always  depend  on  out- 
siders to  smuggle  in  cigarettes  and  blood  curdling  dime 
novels.  On  account  of  the  lack  of  discipline,  the  Boys' 
Prison  became  one  of  the  most  proficient  Schools  of  Crime. 
Here  they  learned  to  become  expert  pickpockets  under  the 
very  nose  of  the  prison  authorities! 

I  have  often  told  my  friends  when  showing  them  around 
the  building  I  would  rather  bury  a  relative  of  mine  than 
have  him  spend  a  week  in  this  dirty,  immoral  pest  hole. 
During  the  past  five  or  six  years  there  has  been  an  average 
of  75  to  80  boys  a  day  in  this  prison,  and  shocking  to  relate, 
one-half  have  frequently  to  be  treated  for  venereal  disease. 
If  you  want  your  boy  to  be  a  full-fledged  degenerate  and 
outcast  send  him  tc  the  Tombs  Prison,  for  only  a  few  days, 
and  when  he  comes  out  of  this  School  of  Crime  he  will 
dare  anything  in  the  line  of  criminality! 

It  is  a  fact  that  cannot  be  denied  that  in  this  prison  some 
of  the  boys  plan  crime  and  execute  it  on  the  outside.     This 


14  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

has  been  proven  scores  of  times,  when  these  young  crooks 
return  to  the  prison  on  fresh  charges.  If  you  question 
them  they  will  admit  that  they  received  their  incentive  to 
do  crooked  deeds  while  in  the  Tombs.  Those  who  are  sent 
to  the  Protectory  and  the  House  of  Refuge  are  seldom  im- 
proved when  they  come  out.  Barney  McGill,  who  had 
been  a  lieutenant  in  the  Navy  during  the  Civil  War,  was 
one  of  the  best  and  kindest  of  keepers.  He  was  in  the 
Department  of  Corrections  for  many  years  and  was  noted 
for  his  outspoken  fidelity.  While  in  charge  of  the  Boys' 
Prison  a  few  years  ago,  he  wore  a  gold  watch  and  chain 
exposed  to  view.  Some  of  the  "kids"  thought  it  was  a 
"dead-easy"  thing  to  get  Barney's  watch.  An  East  Side 
boy  named  Mickey  Cohen,  promised  to  secure  it  without 
much  trouble.  One  morning  this  young  crook  called  Bar- 
ney to  his  cell  and  said,  "Keeper,  I  want  to  speak  to  you. 
Excuse  me,  I  am  afraid  to  speak  loud  'cause  if  some  of  dese 
kids  hear  it,  dey  will  kill  me."  "Speak  out,  my  little  man," 
said  Barney,  "I  will  see  that  no  one  harms  you."  Then  he 
told  Barney  a  "fake"  tale  of  some  boys  who  intended  to 
escape.  While  he  was  doing  this  he  stole  Barney's 
watch,  leaving  the  chain  dangle  in  front  of  his  vest.  In 
half  an  hour  Barney  missed  his  gold  watch.  After  threat- 
ening to  "kill"  a  half  a  dozen  of  the  suspicious  crooks,  the 
guilty  one  confessed.  Afterwards  the  watch  was  found  in 
the  cell  mattress. 

When  Jimmy  Hagan  was  boss  of  the  Tombs  he  took 
Billy  Evers  from  Murderers'  Row  and  sent  him  to  the  Boys' 
Prison  for  some  trifling  offence.  Billy  was  a  good  keeper 
and  a  favorite  among  the  boys.  He  had  a  fatherly  way  of 
getting  around  them  and  into  their  affection.  He  never 
swore  at  them!  Whenever  I  made  trips  to  Sing  Sing  in 
after  years  in  the  interest  of  the  discharged  prisoner  and 
met  any  of  the  old  boys  they  were  sure  to  ask  after  Billy 
Evers. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  15 

Then  there  was  Larry  Creevy.  Some  boys  were  afraid 
of  him  but  he  knew  how  to  keep  them  in  their  place.  Then 
there  were  John  O'Conners  and  Mike  Breen,  two  most  ex- 
cellent keepers.  Under  John  E.  Van  De  Carr,  who  can 
truthfully  be  called  the  Prince  of  Wardens,  the  Boys'  Pris- 
on was  carried  on  above  reproach! 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  some  of  these  boys  were  the 
children  of  well-to-do  parents  who  allowed  them  to  be  sent 
to  the  City  Prison  for  the  "scare"  it  would  give  them.  But 
it  had  no  apparent  effect  on  most  of  them.  Many  times  a 
mother  in  silks  and  satins  with  a  full  display  of  jewelry 
would  visit  the  Prison.  One  day  a  mother  went  to  one  of 
the  judges  to  ask  clemency  for  her  boy  who  was  up  for 
sentence.  The  judge  was  disposed  to  be  lenient  with  the 
lad  as  he  was  not  a  thief.  But  the  Court  had  made  inquiry 
and  learned  that  the  parents  were  more  to  blame  for  his 
downfall  than  the  boy.  I  was  glad  the  judge  spoke  as  he 
did,  before  he  got  through  that  mother's  face  was  crimson. 
"Woman,"  said  the  judge,  "why  don't  you  look  after  your 
boy?  You  are  responsible  for  his  disgrace.  You  go  out 
at  night  to  the  theatre  and  other  social  functions,  and  while 
you  are  having  a  nice  time  your  boy  is  going  to  the  Devil ! 
If  you  promise  to  stay  at  home  and  try  and  bring  up  your 
boy  the  proper  way,  I  will  suspend  sentence."     She  did. 

For  several  years  after  I  went  to  the  Tombs  there  was  a 
man  who  acted  as  school  teacher  and  probation  officer, 
whose  vile  relations  with  the  boys  in  his  rooms  on  Chrystie 
street,  was  scandalous.  Several  had  confessed  to  me  as 
well  as  to  Father  Smith,  the  Catholic  Priest.  As  soon  as  I 
learned  that  the  shocking  information  was  true,  I  sent  the 
boys  and  their  parents  to  Commissioner  Hynes,  and  with 
the  aid  of  Justice  Meyers  of  Special  Sessions  he  was 
"bounced."  The  general  opinion  at  the  time  was  that  the 
brute  ought  to  have  been  sent  to  Sing  Sing  for  twenty 
years.     Warden  Van  De  Carr  deserved  great  credit  for  the 


16  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

help  rendered  on  this  occasion.  These  and  similar  abuses 
have  been  going  on  in  our  prisons  for  years,  but  no  body 
is  willing  to  stop  them  or  expose  them?  The  present  mis- 
sionary mollycoddles  would  not  dare  to  speak  against  them, 
and  as  far  as  the  Tombs  abuses  are  concerned  the  Prison 
Association  has  been  dumb  on  these  and  similar  subjects. 
The  courts  find  it  hard  to  secure  the  right  kind  of  Probation 
officers.  This  is  especially  true  in  regard  to  Boys.  A  loud 
mouthed,  untruthful  grafter  should  not  be  allowed  to 
manage  boys  under  any  circumstances.  There  are  two 
notable  exceptions,  one  in  Brooklyn  and  the  other  in  New 
York — both  reliable  men,  Messrs.  Baccus  and  Kimball. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  17 


CHAPTER  I. 

WHAT  I  KNOW  ABOUT  THE  TOMBS 

No  prison  on  the  American  continent  has  had  such  an  un- 
savory reputation  as  a  corrupt  grafting  institution  as  the 
New  York  Tombs.  This  has  been  especially  true  when  City 
politics  had  decreed  it  to  be  in  charge  of  the  House  of 
Grafters  on  Fourteenth  Street. 

In  giving  my  personal  experience  of  what  I  have  beheld 
with  my  own  eyes  in  America's  greatest  criminal  barracks, 
I  do  so  with  the  sole  object  of  letting  the  light  in,  and 
making  it  easier,  if  possible,  for  future  unfortunates  who 
may  be  domiciled  here  for  any  length  of  time. 

For  many  years  the  Tombs  Prison  has  been  the  happy 
hunting  ground  for  graft  and  "rake-offs"  of  various  kinds, 
given  in  return  for  all  kinds  of  privileges.  Money  has 
always  been  used  to  awaken  the  darkest  passions  in  man, 
those  who  are  mad  for  the  "dough"  take  all  kinds  of 
chances  to  secure  it. 

To  the  daily  visitor  who  comes  to  the  City  Prison,  every- 
thing looks  beautiful  and  serene  on  the  outside.  But  the 
careful  observer  sees  things  in  a  different  light  and  as  he 
reads  between  the  lines  he  can  detect  the  spurious  from 
the  genuine. 

In  endeavoring  to  carry  on  the  work  of  a  prison  from  a 
business  standpoint  we  must  rid  ourselves  of  everything 
romantic  and  deal  only  with  facts  and  common  sense.  It 
is  not  a  pleasant  task  to  expose  infamy,  no  matter  where 
it  is  found.  And  you  can  rest  assured  that  the  one  who 
dares  do  it  will  be  rewarded  with  invective,  abuse  and 


18  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

slander.  On  the  other  hand,  to  pass  it  by  without  making 
some  effort  to  change  the  wretched  conditions  is  cowardly. 

The  stories  told  of  the  abuses  of  the  Tombs  seem  as 
strange  as  the  Arabian  Nights!  But  most  of  them  were 
true  and  would  have  made  fine  reading  for  the  average 
New  Yorker,  but  graft  kept  them  out  of  the  newspapers 
and  from  publicity. 

One  of  the  earliest  "bombs"  that  struck  the  City  Prison, 
was  hurled  by  an  inmate  named  Ruth  Howard  during  the 
sitting  of  the  Mazet  Committee,  in  1897-8.  The  Commit- 
tee threatened  to  make  an  investigation  and  expose  the  vile 
conditions  which  then  existed.  In  her  letter  to  the  Com- 
mittee, Mrs.  Howard  describes  the  place  as  grossly  immoral 
and,  of  course,  excoriated  several  of  the  officials  by  name. 
It  was  the  general  opinion  at  the  time  that  if  the  case  had 
been  pushed  against  these  Tammanyites  they  would  soon 
be  wearing  striped  suits  either  in  Sing  Sing  or  Blackwell's 
Island.  After  this  the  Commissioner  refused  to  allow  cer- 
tain ones  to  inspect  the  Women's  Prison. 

For  a  number  of  years  charges  have  been  made  at 
various  times  against  the  Tombs  Prison  in  general  and  the 
Department  of  Corrections  in  particular,  which  many  of 
our  City  newspapers  and  a  score  of  criminal  lawyers  who 
have  come  in  contact  with  the  conditions  have  known  to  be 
true,  but  nothing  has  been  done  to  clean  out  this  sink  of 
iniquity. 

Whenever  any  person  has  had  the  courage  to  call  atten- 
tion to  the  grafting  abuses,  common  assaults,  whiskey  and 
dope  smuggling  and  other  unseemly  conduct  of  the  Tombs 
officials,  the  usual  response  was  "Traitor,  humbug,  liar," 
and  a  volley  of  anathemas!  Such  an  answer  sufficed  for 
the  time  being.  Frequently  these  officials  would  resort  to 
a  "white  wash"  paper,  signed  by  missionaries  and  other 
hangers-on  in  the  building  who  would  be  compelled  to  affix 
their  names  to  the  document  or  else  be  "bounced."       It 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  19 

seems  to  me  all  such  whitewash  "buzzards"  were  no  better 
than  the  real  inmates  of  the  cells! 

I  recall  now  when  I  first  went  there  that  there  were  two 
Wall  Street  swindlers  in  the  old  Prison  who  were  said  to 
be  rich.  They  had  sumptuous  privileges.  One  of  these 
crooks  fought  for  his  liberty  in  the  state  and  federal  courts 
but  did  not  succeed,  but  as  he  had  the  ready  cash  on  hand 
he  found  a  good  cell  in  the  annex.  He  had  everything  he 
desired.  The  other  man  who  was  convicted,  but  had  ap- 
pealed for  a  stay,  fought  against  being  bled  any  longer  and 
was  removed  to  an  inferior  cell.  I  remember  he  sent  out 
for  reporters  that  he  might  give  them  a  tale  of  oppression, 
but  they  were  not  allowed  to  see  him.  The  "grafters"  told 
the  newspaper  men  that  the  fellow  was  crazy. 

In  those  days  some  of  the  abuses  were  of  a  gross  sensual 
character  and  had  been  going  on  for  years  but  who  would 
dare  speak  against  them?  And  so  the  grafters  had  every- 
thing their  own  way! 

I  have  nothing  but  kind  words  for  the  excellent  work  of 
the  Hon.  Thomas  W.  Hynes,  who  was  an  ideal  Commis- 
sioner during  the  Mayor  Low  administration.  Mr.  Hynes 
was  an  honest,  upright  and  fair  Commissioner  and  sought 
in  every  way  to  keep  his  department  clean.  He  removed 
Warden  Flynn  and  it  would  have  been  well  if  the  Courts 
had  left  hirn  out  as  he  certainly  has  made  a  poor  Warden. 

Whiskey,  Gambling  asd  Other  Privileges 

When  Warden  Bissert  was  an  involuntary  inmate  of  the 
Tombs  in  the  fall  of  1901,  he  had  so  many  privileges  and 
such  an  old-fashioned  good  time  that  many  persons  rightly 
concluded  that  he  owned  the  City  Prison.  Not  only  did  he 
eat,  drink,  smoke  the  best  Havanas  and  play  cards  at  the 
Warden's  table,  but  he  was  allowed  to  receive  from  ten  to 
thirty  plain  clothes  policemen  as  his  visitors  daily!  They 
had  no  passes  whatever  when  they  came  to  the  Tombs,  but 


20  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

these  were  not  necessary.  All  they  were  required  to  say 
to  the  gateman  was,  "We  are  the  Wardman's  friends."  On 
Sunday  afternoons,  when  everything  was  quiet,  a  woman 
was  allowed  to  pass  through  the  front  gate,  enter  a  cell  and 
be  with  a  prisoner  for  immoral  purposes!  The  Keeper  had 
orders  to  allow  her  pass  into  the  prison.  I  watched  her 
enter  the  corner  cell  in  the  annex,  which  had  a  gas  jet,  she 
came  every  Sunday  for  weeks  and  usually  stayed  an  hour. 
Nor  was  this  an  uncommon  occurrence.  Francis  J.  Lantry 
was  Commissioner  of  Corrections,  James  Hagan,  Warden, 
and  William  Flynn,  the  present  Warden,  was  head  keeper. 
Did  I  speak  about  it  at  the  time?  Certainly.  And  an 
investigation  was  promised  but  like  all  of  Tammany's  in- 
vestigations it  never  came! 

The  city  cops  that  came  daily  to  see  the  wardman  always 
brought  a  plentiful  supply  of  whiskey.  And  judging  from 
the  number  of  empty  bottles  found  around  the  ten-day 
house,  the  quantity  consumed  on  the  premises  was  enorm- 
ous. And  often  keepers,  "trusties"  and  prisoners  were 
found  more  than  half  drunk. 

In  these  days  Joe  Williams,  ballot-box  stuffer,  who  was 
afterwards  sent  to  Sing  Sing  for  a  term  of  years,  had 
special  privileges.  Joe  was  seldom  locked  in  his  cell  night 
or  day.  Many  months  afterwards  when  I  personally  visited 
Auburn  Prison,  I  found  a  man  who  had  been  at  that  time 
in  the  "hall"  with  Williams;  he  informed  him  that  the 
reason  Williams  had  so  many  privileges  bestowed  on  him 
was  on  account  of  being  the  "graft  collector"  in  the  ten-day 
house. 

Williams,  "Jimmie"  Maguire  and  other  trusties,  were 
often  "paralyzed"  drunk  in  the  tiers  with  the  whiskey 
brought  in  for  Bissert's  benefit.  "Jimmie"  Maguire  had 
been  in  the  Tombs  no  less  than  twenty  times  to  my  knowl- 
edge for  drunk  and  disorderly  conduct,  and  worked  most 
of  the  time  in  the  kitchen  under  the  colored  chef. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  21 

Every  afternoon  when  the  visitors  had  gone,  keepers 
and  inmates  in  various  parts  of  the  prison  sat  down  and 
boldly  ''picked  out"  the  winners  of  the  races.  And  some 
made  "books."  Then  an  official  would  be  dispatched  to  a 
pool  room  opposite  the  Criminal  Court  Building,  said  to  be 
over  Tom  Foley's  gin  mill.  This  kind  of  gambling  was 
kept  up  in  the  Tombs  daily,  Sundays  excepted,  for  years 
under  Tammany  Hall.  The  prisoners  saw  the  officials 
gamble  and  they  in  turn  made  "pools"  and  sent  their  money 
where  it  could  do  the  most  good. 

This  gambling  became  such  a  nuisance  that  it  became 
known  on  the  outside.  A  gentleman  well  known  around 
the  Criminal  Court  Building  told  me  afterwards  that  to 
make  sure  of  the  rumor  he  sent  a  betting  "commissioner" 
to  the  pool  room  over  Tom  Foley's  saloon  and  he  waited 
there  till  the  Tombs  runner  came  and  laid  several  bets  on 
the  ponies. 

When  I  saw  how  the  poor  unfortunates  were  being  rob- 
bed and  ruined,  by  the  prison  gamblers,  I  made  bold  to  go 
to  Lantry  and  asked  him  to  stop  it.  I  saw  at  once  that  I 
touched  him,  for  he  got  red  in  the  face.  He  called  War- 
den Flynn  over  the  telephone  and  gave  him  a  "roasting." 
What  he  said  after  I  left  the  room,  I  have  no  idea,  but 
when  I  reached  the  Tombs  I  found  that  some  persons  had 
been  struck  by  a  cyclone.  Thanks  to  Mr.  Lantry,  the 
regular  pool  room  messenger  had  been  "fired"  to  Black- 
wells  Island  and  for  several  weeks  the  gamblers  in  the 
prison  went  out  of  business.  But  in  a  short  time  the 
crooked  work  went  on  as  brisk  as  ever.  At  any  rate,  I  re- 
lieved my  conscience  of  a  painful  duty  in  the  matter  and 
stopped  the  mean  business  for  a  season.  I  wish  now  that 
I  had  called  on  Mr.  Jerome  and  he  might  have  sent  the 
"bunch"  to  the  Penitentiary. 

From  that  time  on  these  gambling  officials  became  my 
Nemesis.     They  hated  to  see  me  around  the  Tombs.     Com- 


22  NEW  YORK   TOMBS 

missicner  Lantry  afterwards  told  me  that  I  was  the  only 
person  among  Catholics,  Jews  and  Protestant  missionaries 
that  ever  personally  complained  against  the  rotten  condi- 
tions in  the  Tombs.  But  then  cowards  are  afraid  to  tell 
the  truth! 

Steerage 

The  way  that  lawyers  have  been  robbed  of  their  clients 
the  past  few  years  in  the  City  Prison  has  become  a  public 
scandal.  Almost  every  day  there  is  a  fight  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  Counsel  Room.  It  is  the  old  story,  some  reputable 
lawyer  is  fighting  for  his  rights  because  an  official  has 
stolen  his  client  and  given  him  to  a  ''shyster."  It  is  said 
that  thousands  of  dollars  a  year  have  been  passed  to  cer- 
tain ones,  who  have  been  the  real  "steerers,"  and  not  the 
keepers.  The  Bar  Association  should  investigate  and 
remedy  this  evil.  There  are  a  dozen  reputable  lawyers 
in  New  York  who  are  ready  to  furnish  satisfactory  evidence 
of  this  bare-faced  thievery  and  grafting.  These  corrupt 
officials  should  be  bounced,  and  a  new  Diogenes  sent 
around  the  State  with  a  searchlight  under  his  Ming  in  an 
endeavor  to  find  some  honest  men  to  take  their  place. 

Old  time  "steerers"  in  the  palmy  days  made  plenty  of 
money  in  securing  lawyers  for  prisoners.  I  recall  a  man 
who  had  secured  a  lawyer  through  one  of  his  friends  while 
in  the  District  Prison.  It  was  a  homicide  case.  When  he 
came  to  the  Tombs  one  of  the  keepers  persuaded  him  to 
give  him  up.  The  keeper  approached  him,  thus,  "Say,  who 
is  your  lawyer?"  "So  and  So,"  was  the  reply.  "Well,  let 
me  tell  you,  he  is  no  good.  You  will  have  a  chance  of 
going  to  the  Chair  or  away  for  life!"  "It's  only  man- 
slaughter, my  lawyer  says."  "Don't  make  any  difference," 
said  the  keeper,  "I  am  telling  you  for  your  own  good. 
Give  him  up.     Why  don't  you  get  Mr.  ?"     So  he 


INSIDE   AND    OUT  23 

secures  Mr.  and  that  keeper  gets  the  graft  from 

the  lawyer. 

When  a  certain  politician  was  the  boss  of  the  City 
Prison,  it  was  said  by  the  knowing  ones  that  all  homicides 
as  soon  as  they  gave  their  pedigree  at  the  desk  were 
marched  to  the  warden's  office  where  they  were  privately 
catechised  to  know  whether  any  "steerer"  of  the  prison 
had  been  giving  them  information  about  lawyers,  and  then 
informed  that  it  was  not  necessary  for  them  to  go  to  Court 
to  get  counsel,  that  he  would  out  of  the  goodness  of  his 
heart  look  after  their  interests  and  assign  them  a  lawyer. 
Two  or  three  shyster  firms  had  the  murder  cases  during  this 
"regime,"  at  $500.00  per  head,  which  was  the  amount  of 
money  allowed  by  the  State  for  the  defence  of  every  mur- 
derer, less  one-half,  which  went  to  the  "grafter  "  Thanks 
to  Judge  Rosalsky,  who  has  made  it  a  rule  that  no  prisoner 
in  the  Tombs  can  change  his  attorney  without  the  consent 
of  the  court. 

The  Prison  Focd 

The  bread  given  to  the  prisoner  comes  from  Blackwell's 
Island.  It  used  to  be  said  that  it  was  an  inferior  quality  to 
that  given  to  the  "cons"  in  the  penitentiary.  It  was  often 
so  black  that  it  had  to  be  thrown  away,  and  frequently  the 
dogs  would  not  eat  it.  The  tea  and  coffee  was  colored 
water  and  the  daily  soup  was  mighty  poor  stuff.  When  I 
asked  a  wise  official  to  explain,  he  said,  "Can't  explain; 
some  guy  is  getting  rich."  It  used  to  be  a  prisoner  could 
get  a  small  piece  of  meat  once  in  a  while  if  he  paid  the 
captain  of  the  tier  five  cents!  The  Friday  clam  soup  used 
to  be  horrible!  They  said  it  stank  like  the  devil!  Holy 
angels,  what  stuff  to  give  to  human  beings.  Hear  the  pro- 
fane expressions  of  disapproval  from  the  prisoners  as  it  is 

taken   to  the   cell   doors.     "D that  chowder,   take   it 

away  at  once.     The  first  time  I  ate  it,  it  nearly  killed  me.". 


24  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

Perhaps  from  another  tier  could  be  heard  as  they  passed 
the  stinking  stuff  along,  "Not  for  me.  Send  for  the  coron- 
er and  the  grand  jury,  call  Jerome." 

Abasing  the  Unfortunates 

Some  officials  shamefully  abuse  the  prisoners  for  a  small 
offence  and  in  turn  the  prisoners  curse  them  in  the  vilest 
profanity. 

In  the  early  morning  of  July  4th,  1906,  a  colored  man 
named  Cambridge  called  loudly  for  help.  A  night  keeper 
responded.  When  he  reached  the  cell  door  he  said,  "What 
do  you  want?"  The  sick  man  replied,  "Keeper,  get  me  a 
doctor,  I  am  very  sick."  The  answer  of  the  official  was, 
"Go  to  hell  and  put  a  cloth  around  your  head."  In  the 
morning  Cambridge  was  carried  to  the  hall  where  he  died 
the  following  day.  When  I  spoke  to  an  official  about  it  he 
said  it  was  nobody's  damned  business.  But  this  was  com- 
mon treatment  toward  moneyless  unfortunates! 

Special  Privileges 

When  a  West  Side  gambler  was  in  the  Tombs  charged 
with  murder,  he  had  a  fresh  bottle  of  whiskey  brought  to 
him  almost  daily  and  he  made  no  bones  of  the  matter.  Of 
course,  it  could  not  come  into  the  Tombs  without  money,  of 
which  B.  had  an  abundance.  One  of  the  keepers  said  to 
me  that  he  saw  the  warden  drinking  whiskey  with  the  mur- 
derer in  his  cell.     But  this  was  nothing! 

Scotty  Young,  who  had  spent  two  years  in  the  Tombs 
awaiting  trial,  was  another  prisoner  that  had  special  privi- 
leges. Scotty  bragged  that  he  had  his  whiskey  daily  and 
none  dared  molest  him.  What  kind  of  a  "pull"  he  had, 
never  could  be  learned,  as  he  was  never  known  to  have 
any  more  money  than  he  required  for  his  personal  needs. 
That  "Scotty"  had  special  privileges  none  can  deny;  when 
a  keeper  tried  to  take  away  a  large  piece  of  broken  mirror, 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  25 

a  pocket  knife,  a  razor  and  other  deadly  things  from  him, 
he  was  told  that  the  warden  gave  him  special  permission, 
and  of  course,  that  ended  it. 

Tiie  Grand  Jury 

Every  month  at  the  close  of  the  term  the  Grand  Jury 
pays  a  visit  of  inspection  to  the  Tombs.  This  has  been 
their  custom  for  many  years.  As  the  warden  knows  they 
are  coming  he  puts  everything  in  a  "spick  and  span"  order. 
They  receive  unusual  attention  on  all  such  occasions,  the 
discipline  is  up  to  the  highest  pitch  and  the  warden  as  a 
rule  shows  them  around.  But  to  the  man  who  can  read 
between  the  lines  this  is  all  "make  believe." 

If  the  Grand  Jury  should  visit  the  Tombs  like  a  thief  in 
the  night,  that  is,  unexpectedly,  they  would  then  see  the 
place  as  it  is  and  would  not  be  imposed  upon  any  longer. 
If  the  Grand  Jury  came  to  the  Tombs  on  Friday  and  refused 
to  be  led  around  by  the  warden,  but  by  a  Court  official, 
their  eyes  would  be  opened.  Perhaps  they  could  be  in- 
duced to  wait  around  till  the  noon  hour,  when  they  would 
have  an  opportunity  of  at  least  "smelling"  the  stinking 
chowder  which  the  unfortunate  inmates  are  compelled  to 
eat  or  starve. 

If  any  of  the  Grand  Jury  tried  to  eat  some  of  this  un- 
palatable stuff  they  would  become  so  deathly  sick  that  a 
doctor  would  have  to  be  called  and  if  they  ever  recovered 
we  fear  they  would  indict  the  warden  on  the  spot! 

Of  course  the  monthly  visit  of  the  Grand  Jury  is  known 
in  advance.  They  are  carefully  piloted  around  through 
the  halls  where  the  floors  have  been  mopped  that  morning 
and  everything  made  to  look  "shiny"  and  neat  for  the 
occasion.  As  a  rule  they  are  taken  through  the  new  prison 
and  down  into  the  cellar  where  may  be  found  the  machin- 
ery all  polished  and  bright. 

I  would  like  to  lock  some  of  these  gentlemen  in  one  of 


26  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

the  cells  for  an  hour  or  two.  As  is  well  known,  many  of 
these  cells  are  "reeking"  with  vermin  and  filth.  Not  of  the 
Tombs  only,  but  some  of  the  district  prisons.  I  have  seen 
men  in  the  Tombs  and  in  other  prisons  of  the  City,  who 
had  hardly  become  inmates  before  the  vermin  would  liter- 
ally be  found  crawling  over  them. 

In  summer  time  when  the  weather  is  warm  and  oppres- 
sive, the  "Annex  bug"  (where  the  misdemeanants  are 
kept)  which  is  said  to  be  an  "Asiatic"  brand  of  bug,  comes 
out  of  the  porous  brick  by  thousands  and  for  two  or  three 
months  have  their  "fill"  of  human  gore.  I  think  the  main 
trouble  is  with  the  bedding.  It  is  sent  to  the  Workhouse 
and  washed  about  twice  a  year  in  ordinary  water,  instead 
of  being  boiled  in  a  vat  of  carbolic  acid  or  aqua  fortis, 
and  beaten  for  a  few  days  with  clubs.  Not  infrequently 
visitors  and  missionaries  find  vermin  crawling  over  their 
clothing  after  they  have  returned  to  their  homes. 

Politics  and  the  Prisons 

I  hope  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  prisons  of 
greater  New  York  will  be  conducted  by  the  State  authori- 
ties, as  is  the  case  in  nearly  all  other  countries.  They 
are  the  proper  custodians  of  the  prisoner.  It  seems  to  me 
that  this  is  the  only  cure  for  the  rank  abuses  that  have 
existed  in  these  prisons  for  half  a  century.  Under  Tam- 
many as  everybody  knows,  the  warden  or  other  official 
could  get  as  drunk  as  a  lord,  abuse  everybody  in  sight  and 
yet  be  considered  a  hero!  Some  men  have  been  suspended 
for  a  few  days  but  when  the  district  leader  took  a  hand  in 
the  matter  that  ended  it. 

Last  election  day,  November,  1908,  two  members  of  the 
State  Prison  Commission  visited  Hart's  Island  and  found 
it  deserted.  The  keepers  and  orderlies  were  scattered  all 
over  greater  New  York  trying  to  pile  up  Tammany  votes. 
For  more  than  two  years  the  Workhouse  end  of  the  Island 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  27 

has  been  in  a  state  of  pandemonium.  Under  Tammany 
Hall,  politics  always  cuts  a  wide  swath  in  prison  matters. 
A  keeper  who  refuses  to  work  for  votes  on  election  day  is 
considered  "no  good"  and  is  recommended  by  the  district 
leader  for  dismissal.  If  this  cannot  be  done,  "fake" 
charges  are  presented  against  him  and  unless  he  repents 
and  returns  to  the  "fold"  he  is  bounced.  One  of  the  most 
intelligent  keepers  the  Tombs  ever  had  was  Frank  Smith. 
He  knew  his  business  so  well  that  he  was  an  authority  on 
the  various  kinds  of  commitments.  When  Flynn  became 
warden  he  was  sent  to  Blackwell's  Island.  If  Frank  told 
all  he  knew  about  the  Tombs'  grafters  there  would  have 
been  a  sensation !  The  old  Book  says  "resist  the  devil  and 
he  will  flee  from  you,  but  resist  the  Tammany  grafters  and 
they  will  fly  at  you!"  As  soon  as  any  one  tries  to  reform 
such  a  place  he  gets  mud  and  filth  thrown  at  him ! 

When  W.  R.  Hearst  ran  for  Mayor  of  New  York,  he  had 
several  warm  friends  among  the  keepers.  At  first  they 
were  not  afraid  to  speak  in  his  favor,  but  this  was  soon 
changed.  Spies  were  sent  to  the  prisons  and  the  unlucky 
wights  that  favored  him  were  given  to  understand  that  if 
they  deserted  Tammany  they  would  lose  their  jobs,  and 
the  civil  service  law  would  not  save  them.  Notwithstand- 
ing this  "scare"  a  large  number  of  the  most  intelligent 
keepers  voted  the  Independence  League  ticket,  but  kept  it 
to  themselves.  I  have  nothing  but  kind  words  for  the  rank 
and  file  of  the  keepers  in  the  Tombs  and  the  other  New 
York  prisons.  I  believe  most  of  them  try  to  do  their  duty 
faithfully. 

After  the  scandalous  sale  or  "give  away"  of  Kings 
County  Penitentiary,  for  one-sixth  of  its  real  value,  the 
grafters  said  that  it  was  done  for  economy's  sake,  which  is 
untrue,  for  soon  after — from  sixty  to  seventy  keepers  were 
transferred  to  the  District  Prisons  of  New  York  and  Black- 
well's   Island,   where   was   an   over  supply   already.     The 


28  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

result  was  that  ever  since  there  have  been  two  Wardens 
and  two  deputy  Wardens  in  the  New  York  Penitentiary, 
besides  a  superfluous  number  of  keepers  and  orderlies  in 
all  penal  institutions  of  greater  New  York. 

At  one  time  Hart's  Island  had  something  like  sixty  extra 
men  who  were  classed  as  stablemen  and  orderlies.  They 
had  absolutely  nothing  to  do  except  to  draw  their  pay  and 
help  the  district  leaders.  Bitter  complaints  were  made 
from  time  to  time  against  a  brother  of  the  deputy  who  ran 
things  with  a  high  hand.  If  anybody  complained  against 
these  scandalous  conditions  he  would  soon  be  "fired." 
Tammany  has  no  use  for  reformers.  I  do  not  think  it  pos- 
sible to  paint  the  New  York  prisons  as  black  as  they  have 
been  until  recently.  If  a  day  of  judgment  ever  comes 
when  all  the  scandalous  conditions  shall  be  exposed  to 
public  view  the  people  will  be  astonished. 


INSIDE   AND    OUT  29 


CHAPTER  II. 

AN  HISTORICAL  ACCOUNT  OF  AMERICAN  MOST  FAM- 
OUS PRISON 

For  more  than  two  centuries  after  the  arrival  of  the  early 
Dutch  settlers  on  Manhattan  Island  the  land  for  a  consider- 
able distance  on  all  sides  of  the  present  Tombs  prison  was 
a  fresh  water  lake  known  to  the  people  of  that  day  as  the 
"Kalchhook"  or  Collect  Pond. 

It  seems  almost  incredible  that  less  than  a  century  ago 
the  visitor  to  Manhattan  Island  could  have  stood  at  the 
juncture  of  Park  Row  and  Centre  Street,  and  looking  north 
might  behold  a  beautiful  fresh  water  pond  hidden  between 
the  hills.  This  lake  had  been  a  favorite  resort  of  the  In- 
dians for  hundreds  of  years  prior  to  the  arrival  of  Henry 
Hudson  and  the  Half  Moon  in  September,  1609,  or  even 
before  the  discovery  of  America.  On  the  Broadway  side 
was  an  Indian  settlement  where  the  red  man  pitched  his 
wigwam  and  when  not  hunting  or  fishing  smoked  his  pipe 
of  peace. 

The  name  given  to  this  pond  had  a  curious  history.  It 
seems  that  the  Indians  had  been  in  the  habit  of  carrying 
oysters  from  the  North  River  in  their  canoes;  afterwards 
they  dumped  the  shells  in  heaps  at  the  side  of  the  pond. 
What  name  the  Indians  gave  to  this  sheet  of  water  before 
the  coming  of  the  white  man  we  have  never  been  able  to 
learn.  The  Dutch  settlers  called  it  "Kalchhook"  or  the 
Shell  Point,  from  a  large  deposit  of  shells  found  along  its 
western  shores. 

After  the   erection   of  the   original  Tombs    Prison,   the 


30  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

authorities  experienced  great  trouble  with  water  flooding 
the  cellars,  which  clearly  proved  that  there  were  springs 
underneath  the  main  building. 

With  the  aid  of  some  old  maps  now  in  possession  of  the 
Lenox  Library,  the  exact  location  of  the  Collect  Pond  can 
be  readily  described.  It  was  bounded  by  Pearl  Street  on 
the  south,  half  way  between  White  and  Walker  Streets  on 
the  north,  Elm  Street  on  the  west  and  Mulberry  Street  on 
the  east.  Centre  street  as  now  laid  out  ran  directly 
through  the  pond.  It  had  a  navigable  outlet  to  the  North 
River,  through  Canal  Street. 

It  is  said  that  William  IV,  who  was  then  the  Duke  of 
Clarence,  came  to  New  York  during  the  Revolution  and 
was  in  charge  of  Admiral  Digbie  on  whose  ship  he  was  an 
officer.  He  was  fond  of  skating  on  the  Collect  Pond  when 
off  duty,  and  would  have  drowned  there  on  one  occasion, 
having  broken  through  the  ice,  were  it  not  for  the  quick 
action  of  Gulian  C.  Verplanck,  one  of  New  York's  distin- 
guished citizens.  Mr.  Verplanck  was  afterwards  President 
of  the  Bank  of  New  York,  which  position  he  filled  for 
twenty  years.     He  died  in  1799. 

In  1805  the  City  Council  gave  orders  that  the  Collect 
Pond  should  be  filled  in  with  clean  dirt  from  the  hills  that 
surrounded  it,  as  it  had  become  a  menace  to  the  health  of 
the  city  because  of  the  filth  that  had  been  dumped  into  it 
for  several  years.  But  little  had  been  done  towards  carry- 
ing this  order  into  effect. 

The  winter  of  1807-8  was  one  of  great  distress  and  pov- 
erty in  this  city.  To  add  to  the  misery  of  the  poor,  busi- 
ness was  at  a  standstill  and  hundreds  of  men  were  out  of 
employment.  In  January,  1808,  the  unemployed  made  a 
demonstration  in  front  of  the  City  Hall  and  called  upon  the 
Mayor  and  Common  Council  to  give  them  bread  for  them- 
selves and  their  families  who  were  then  in  a  starving  con- 
dition.    After  a  thorough  discussion  of  the  situation  money 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  31 

was  appropriated  and  several  hundred  men  put  to  work  to 
fill  in  the  Collect  Pond  as  a  public  improvement.  After 
many  months  the  work  was  completed. 

In  the  year  1830  the  Common  Council  again  took  up  the 
matter  of  erecting  a  new  prison.  The  population  of  the 
city  had  increased  by  this  time  to  over  200,000.  The  old 
Bridewell  which  had  been  erected  before  the  Revolution, 
situated  west  of  the  City  Hall,  had  become  a  nuisance  and 
was  unfit  any  longer  for  use  as  a  prison.  For  several  years 
the  agitation  was  kept  up  without  any  definite  results.  At 
last  in  1835  the  erection  of  the  Tombs  Prison  on  a  part  of 
the  old  Collect  Pond  was  decided  upon  and  work  begun. 

For  over  a  year  the  construction  of  the  new  building  was 
slow,  as  the  filling  in  of  the  pond  had  not  been  properly 
done.  The  ground  was  so  wet  and  ''springy"  that  the 
foundation  of  the  new  prison  had  to  be  laid  on  pine  logs 
fastened  to  the  ground  by  spiles. 

The  old  Tombs  was  said  to  contain  the  purest  specimen 
of  Coptic  architecture  outside  of  Egypt  and  was  admired  as 
a  splendid  work  of  art. 

The  style  of  this  prison  was  decided  on  soon  after  the 
publication  of  a  new  book  of  travels  by  John  L.  Stevens, 
of  Hoboken.  Mr.  Stevens  had  just  returned  from  a  visit 
to  Egypt  and  the  Holy  Land  and  had  given  to  the  public  the 
result  of  his  impressions  abroad  in  a  handsome  volume. 
As  the  author  was  well  known  in  New  York,  his  book  be- 
came widely  popular.  On  the  front  page  was  a  picture  of 
an  Egyptian  Tomb.  Some  suggested  that  the  new  city 
prison  be  built  after  this  design.  The  Common  Council 
accepted  the  suggestion.  Ever  since  the  city  prison  has 
been  called  "The  Tombs." 

Strange  to  say,  this  new  prison  was  erected  in  the  midst 
of  a  neighborhood  that  has  ever  since  run  riot  in  every 
form  of  crime  and  wickedness.  For  over  sixty  years  some 
of  the  blackest  and  bloodiest  murders,  robberies,  assaults, 


32  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

hold-ups  and  other  deeds  of  darkness  were  committed  in 
this  neighborhood  or  within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  prison. 

In  early  days  that  part  of  the  old  Tombs  building  front- 
ing Centre  Street  was  known  as  the  Halls  of  Justice,  as  it 
contained  the  Court  of  Special  Sessions  and  the  First  Dis- 
trict Police  Court.  For  several  years  after  the  Tombs  was 
opened  the  Sheriff  of  the  County  had  charge  of  the  build- 
ing and  all  of  the  prisoners  from  the  time  of  their  commit- 
tal till  they  were  safely  landed  in  the  Penitentiary  or  State 
Prison. 

The  old  Tombs  Prison  was  an  oblong  building  142x48 
and  contained  four  tiers,  having  one  hundred  and  forty- 
eight  double  cells.  As  far  as  safety  and  economy  were 
concerned,  it  was  one  of  the  best  in  the  country.  It  was 
so  constructed  that  one  man  on  the  fourth  tier  and  one  man 
at  the  desk  could  see  everything  going  on  in  the  building. 

Forty  years  ago  there  was  a  stone  building  at  the  corner 
of  Franklin  and  Centre  Streets  which  for  years  was  known 
as  "Bummers'  Hall."  It  was  used  principally  for  drunk, 
disorderly  and  crazy  people.  After  a  time  it  became 
dilapidated,  filthy  and  overrun  with  rats.  A  young  tough 
named  Mahoney  and  some  boys  who  were  detained  with 
him  for  some  minor  offence,  made  their  escape  from 
"Bummers'  Hall"  through  a  window.  After  it  was  demol- 
ished, a  brick  building  was  erected  known  as  the  New 
Prison,  which  is  now  called  the  Annex.  When  the  Tombs 
was  first  built  it  contained  a  cupola  over  the  main  entrance, 
which  was  burned  on  the  day  set  for  the  execution  of  John 
C.  Colt,  November  18th,  1842.  The  original  Tombs  Prison 
was  opened  for  business  in  the  early  part  of  1838. 

Retrospect 

If  the  stones  and  iron  grating  of  this  dismal  old  prison, 
now  no  more,  which  for  two-thirds  of  a  century  stood  with 
its  back  toward  Elm  Street,  and  its  front  entrance  facing 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  33 

Centre  Street,  could  only  speak  out  its  experience  and  tell 
its  woes,  what  a  heart-rending  story  of  crime  it  would  tell; 
what  bitterness  of  soul,  dashed  prospects,  guilty  con- 
sciences that  presage  horrors,  together  with  the  breath  of 
a  fetid  atmosphere,  where  like  hades,  the  smoke  of  their 
torment  rises  continually!  It  would  also  be  a  story  of 
blood  and  tears! 

For  over  sixty-five  years  the  "old  Tombs"  prison  has 
been  the  scene  of  so  many  tragedies  and  the  grave  of  in- 
numerable buried  hopes,  once  most  promising,  but  long 
since  crushed  under  the  iron  heel  of  fate!  And  these 
realms  of  darkness,  cold,  damp  and  forbidding  cells, 
clammy  and  foul  with  the  sweat  and  tears  of  a  past  gener- 
ation, remind  us  of  the  cruel  dungeons  underneath  the 
Mamertine  prison  of  the  Caesars!  .^ 

When  we  think  of  the  number  of  cold-blooded  murderers, 
the  burglars,  highwaymen,  forgers,  swindlers,  gold-brick 
men,  green-goods  operators  and  hundreds  of  others  pos- 
sessing dark  criminal  records,  that  have  lain  here  for  many 
months,  coming  from  every  State  and  part  of  the  globe,  our 
blood  curdles  within. 

What  hideous  characters  have  domiciled  in  this  prison 
during  these  two  generations,  who  afterwards  paid  the  pen- 
alty of  the  law  for  their  bloody  deeds!  Think  also  of  the 
conglomeration  of  forces  that  actuated  and  bore  them  into 
their  doom  like  driftwood  going  over  a  Niagara  as  merci- 
less as  fate  would  have  them ! 

Men  and  women  that  came  from  noble  sires,  scholars 
2nd  specialists  with  trained  minds  that  would  have  shone 
in  any  department  of  life,  lawyers,  teachers,  business 
men,  bankers,  brokers  and  even  men  of  letters,  all  under 
the  cruel  hand  of  fate,  succumbed  to  the  tempter  in  a  weak 
moment  and  fell;  alas!  some  never  to  rise  again. 


34  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

"Backward,  flow  backward,  O  tide  of  the  years, 
I  am  so  weary  of  toil  and  tears." 

But,  alas,  it  is  too  late.    The  die  is  cast  forever! 

Our  young  men  and  women  should  learn  ere  it  is  too 
late,  or  even  before  they  launch  forth  on  a  career  of  crime, 
that  we  cannot  break  the  divine  law  without  punishment. 
"Whatsoever  a  man  soweth  that  shall  he  also  reap,"  is  a 
law  that  is  as  true  in  the  moral  world  as  it  is  in  the  realm  of 
nature.  Our  large  cities  are  full  of  the  whirlpools  of  vice 
that  carry  multitudes  swiftly  over  the  rapids  of  destruction 
into  the  maelstrom  of  eternal  death. 

The  New  City  Prison 

After  many  years  of  agitation  the  plans  for  the  new 
Tombs  Prison  were  prepared  and  approved  during  the 
Strong  administration,  which  went  into  power  on  a  reform 
wave  in  1894. 

The  new  City  Prison  contains  three  hundred  and  twenty 
steel  cells  arranged  in  four  tiers  in  the  men's  and  four  in 
the  boys'  prison,  with  parallel  corridors.  There  are  forty 
large  cells  on  each  tier,  arranged  back  to  back,  with  all  the 
recent  improvements,  which  consist  of  running  water,  elec- 
tric light,  toilet,  wash  basin,  hung  table  and  cot.  The  new 
building  is  said  to  have  cost  over  one  million  dollars. 

On  September  30th,  1902,  the  old  offices  on  Leonard 
Street  which  had  been  in  use  since  the  front  building  on 
Centre  Street  had  been  torn  down  to  make  room  for  the 
new  structure,  were  abandoned  and  the  books  and  other 
important  documents  removed  to  the  offices  in  the  new 
building.  This  new  building,  however,  was  not  entirely 
ready  for  use,  but  the  first  step  had  been  taken  and  the 
occasion  was  hailed  with  joy.  The  second  step  in  the 
entire  occupation  of  the  new  City  Prison  took  place  Tues- 
day, January  6th,  1903,  when  the  contractors  handed  over 
the   entire   structure    to   the   City   authorities   and    it   was 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  35 

formally  opened  to  the  public  by  Mayor  Seth  Low  and 
Commissioner  Thomas  W.  Hynes  in  the  presence  of  a 
number  of  invited  guests.  A  few  days  afterwards  the 
prisoners  v/ere  transferred  from  the  old  prison  to  the  new, 
and  the  work  of  demolishing  the  old  Tombs  was  begun. 

When  the  new  Tombs  was  opened  in  1901,  John  E.  Van 
De  Carr  was  Warden.  And  a  kinder  and  more  obliging 
man  never  lived  than  he.  Both  under  the  administrations 
of  Mayors  Strong  and  Low  he  was  the  official  head  of  the 
city  prison,  and  cared  for  the  inmates  of  the  prison  as  if 
they  were  his  own  family. 

For  many  years  the  city  prison  has  been  noted  for  some 
of  its  semi-official  inmates,  who  lived  on  perquisites  and 
tips,  and  one  of  this  class  was  old  John  Curran,  the  official 
guide  of  the  prison.  Old  John  had  served  in  this  capacity 
for  many  years,  and  knew  every  nook  and  cranny  of  the 
old  structure.  Roland  B.  Molineaux  had  a  good  opportun- 
ity of  seeing  old  John  at  his  best,  and  has  kindly  spoken  of 
him  in  his  book,  "The  Room  with  the  Little  Door."  When- 
ever John  waxed  eloquent,  in  describing  the  places  of  in- 
terest within  the  Tombs  yard,  he  revealed  a  strong  Irish 
brogue,  that  made  his  descriptions  witty.  You  could  not 
help  smiling  when  you  heard  John,  as  he  was  wont  to  do, 
point  out  the  last  remaining  beam  of  the  old  Tombs  gal- 
lows, on  which  a  score  or  more  of  persons  were  hun?. 
"Gintlemens,  thems  th'  last  and  true  part  of  old  galleys  of 
New  Yark,  on  which  so  many  famous  chaps  wint  to  death." 
As  he  turned  toward  "Bummers'  Hall"  with  his  visitors  in 
the  rear,  he  would  exclaim,  "Gints,  thems  the  way  to  the 
exodus"  as  he  would  point  to  the  back  door  of  the  new 
prison. 

Soon  after  the  opening  of  the  new  prison  John  disap- 
peared from  history  as  if  the  earth  had  opened  its  mouth 
and  swallowed  him  out  of  sight.  Where  did  he  go?  No 
person  seemed  to  know.     Mr.  Sullivan,  who  was  known  as 


36  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

the  Captain  of  the  Bum  Brigade,  and  was  known  as  John's 
confidential  adviser,  said  that  as  soon  as  the  old  fellow 
secured  his  "pile"  he  vanished.  I  afterwards  learned  that 
John  had  a  daughter  living  in  Maine,  and  without  com- 
municating his  plans  to  any  one  in  the  prison,  removed 
thither,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  and  now  resides,  happy 
and  contented,  ever  and  anon  dreaming,  how  he  had  lived 
so  leng  in  the  old  Tombs  and  how  he  had  so  long  fooled  the 
visitors  with  his  "Corkonian  eloquence." 

After  John's  disappearance  the  redoubtable  Billy 
Gallagher  added  to  his  already  onerous  duties  of  prison 
messenger,  that  of  official  prison  guide.  After  a  while 
Billy  learned  the  "lingo"  and  became  as  proficient  as  a 
"Bowery  drummer"  or  a  Coney  Island  "barker."  When 
the  Commissioner  had  learned  that  John  Curran  had  made 
a  fortune  as  Tombs  guide,  he  prohibited  Billy  Gallagher 
from  asking  fees  for  his  services.  Billy  was  a  favorite 
with  everybody,  and  could  always  be  depended  on  for  his 
veracity.  Apple  Mary  who  knew  Billy  for  many  years 
used  to  say,  "God  bless  Billy  Gallagher,"  to  which  every- 
body would  say  Amen. 

Billy  Gallagher  devoted  more  time  to  the  Bowery  bums 
who  so  often  infested  the  ten-day  house,  and  they  took 
advantage  of  his  generosity. 

They  frequently  palmed  off  on  him  a  lot  of  "fake" 
jewelry  on  the  strength  of  which  he  paid  their  fines.  After 
a  time  Billy  had  a  carpet  bag  full  of  tin  watches  and  paste 
diamonds,  on  which  he  had  made  small  loans.  Charley 
Sheridan,  who  was  one  of  Frank  Lantry's  district  captains, 
was  "boss"  of  the  ten-day  house  for  several  seasons.  He 
was  tender  hearted  and  often  talked  to  the  fellows  from 
the  Bowery  and  Mulberry  Bend  in  a  fatherly  way  and  more 
than  once  paid  their  fines.     Of  course  they  "beat"  him  in 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  37 

the  end  as  they  do  everybody  who  trusts  them.  They  go 
on  the  principle  that  they  have  everything  to  gain  and 
nothing  to  lose  by  a  lie. 


38  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  III. 

MODERN  EXCUSES  FOR  CRIME 

Modern  penologists  tell  us  that  a  large  number  of  our 
present  day  law  breakers  possess  criminal  instincts  and  in 
a  sense  are  not  entirely  responsible  for  the  unlawful  deeds 
they  commit.  What  generates  these  instincts  it  would  be 
difficult  to  say.  Perhaps  early  training,  erratic  tempera- 
ments or  mental  diseases  of  various  kinds  may  account  for 
them.  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  much  of  our  modern 
criminality  is  nothing  less  than  old  fashioned  depravity. 
By  nature  most  of  us  are  so  cross-grained  that  we  find  it 
easy  to  go  wrong,  and  there  is  no  telling  where  evil  tenden- 
cies may  lead  to.  Sometimes  it  needs  only  a  spark  to  draw 
out  the  crookedness  in  man  and  make  him  a  full-fledged 
criminal. 

While  the  matter  of  self  restraint  should  be  kept  con- 
tinually before  the  minds  of  young  people,  the  question  of 
how  far  one  should  be  allowed  to  tempt  another  to  the  com- 
mittal of  a  crime  is  one  of  vastly  greater  importance.  In 
this  we  believe  the  State  should  draw  the  line.  This  is  in 
accordance  with  Gladstone's  well  known  dictum,  "That  it 
should  be  the  duty  of  every  well  organized  government  to 
make  it  easy  to  do  right  and  difficult  to  do  wrong."  There 
is  no  mistaking  that  the  present  is  a  fast  age.  More  than 
that,  the  competition  for  human  existence,  education, 
wealth  and  social  standing  is  so  great  as  to  be  unhealthy, 
because  of  the  nervous  strain  which  it  creates.  These 
conditions  have  developed  an  army  of  moral  defectives  in 
almost  every  walk  of  life. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  39 

Placing  temptations  before  such  people  is  simply  making 
them  criminals  in  advance.  A  vast  number  of  men  and 
women  are  unable  to  resist  evil,  as  they  lack  the  moral 
stamina.  Many  of  this  class,  having  been  brought  up  in 
homes  of  vice  and  evil  environments,  can  no  more  stand 
the  temptations  of  the  present  day  than  a  hungry  dog  can 
resist  taking  a  piece  of  unguarded  meat  from  a  neighbor's 
door. 

The  dipsomaniac,  kleptomaniac,  morphine,  cocaine, 
cigarette  users,  and  high  livers,  generally  all  belong  to  this 
class,  many  of  whom  are  on  the  way  to  the  madhouse! 

It  has  been  ascertained  by  long  study  of  the  subject  that 
those  who  possess  criminal  instincts  have  little  or  no  re- 
sistive power  when  tempted  to  commit  crime.  If  the  judge 
on  the  bench,  before  passing  sentence  on  a  convicted  felon, 
had  the  insight  or  perception  to  see  the  moral  deformities 
and  lack  of  will  power  existing  in  the  individual  before 
him,  we  are  inclined  to  believe  that  he  would  send  the 
prisoner  to  a  sanitarium  for  treatment  rather  than  to  prison 
for  punishment.  And  it  is  our  candid  opinion  that  there 
are  hundreds  of  moral  defectives  in  all  the  penal  institu- 
tions of  this  and  other  States  who  ought  to  be  under  the 
care  of  a  physician  rather  than  a  jailer. 

Sometimes  the  police  disguise  themselves,  then  induce 
gamblers  to  play  roulette  and  other  games  of  chance  for 
the  purpose  of  securing  evidence,  after  which  they  arrest 
them  for  violating  the  law.  This  may  be  good  ethics  from 
the  police  standpoint,  but  we  question  it.  It  is  absurd  to 
think  that  we  have  any  moral  right  to  tempt  a  person  to 
commit  a  crime  against  the  laws  of  God  or  man. 

Not  long  since  a  city  magistrate  reprimanded  two  plain 
clothes  policemen  for  inducing  a  German  saloon  keeper  to 
open  his  store  on  Sunday  morning  and  give  them  a  drink. 
They  succeeded  in  doing  so  only  under  false  pretences  by 
saying  they  were  sick.     After  they  had  secured  the  evi- 


40  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

dence,  they  placed  him  under  arrest.  In  this  way  they 
compelled  him  to  break  the  law.  A  woman  was  tried  in 
the  Court  of  General  Sessions,  some  time  ago  for  keeping 
a  disorderly  house.  It  was  proved  that  she  kept  a  boarding 
house,  but  there  was  no  evidence  to  show  that  she  or  any 
of  the  inmates  were  immoral  or  that  impure  language  was 
used  on  the  premises.  The  police,  however,  suspected  the 
house  and  sent  a  plain  clothes  officer  who  stayed  on  the 
premises  for  a  day  or  two.  After  a  time  by  the  skillful 
use  of  money  he  was  able  to  tempt  the  woman  to  place 
herself  in  a  compromising  position  and  in  this  way  secured 
evidence  against  her.  Now  the  law  says  that  any  person 
who  directly  or  indirectly  induces  or  procures  another  to 
commit  a  crime  is  as  bad  as  the  principal. 

As  an  unusually  large  number  of  persons  had  passed  the 
examination  for  positions  on  the  City  Police  and  Fire  De- 
partments some  time  ago,  the  Civil  Service  Board  became 
suspicious.  It  occurred  to  them  that  somebody  was  steal- 
ing the  examination  papers.  Two  detectives  were  put  on 
the  case.  They  secured  the  services  of  an  athletic  instruc- 
tor to  prepare  them  to  pass  the  examination  for  a  position 
on  the  Fire  Department  and  offered  him  $400  for  his 
labors.  He  promised  to  do  so,  provided  he  could  secure 
the  stolen  examination  papers.  The  instructor  secured  the 
papers  and  both  men  passed.  When  passing  sentence  the 
presiding  Judge  commented  unfavorably  on  the  large 
money  temptation  placed  before  the  defendant  which  was 
in  the  nature  of  a  bribe  and  was  the  one  thing  which  made 
the  crime  possible. 

It  is  a  question  in  our  mind  how  far  valuable  property, 
such  as  gold,  diamonds  and  other  jewelry,  should  be  ex- 
posed on  the  counters  of  large  stores.  Multitudes  cannot 
view  these  things  without  secretly  trying  to  carry  some 
away.     Nor    should    people    expose    money    unnecessarily 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  41 

before  the  gaze  of  strangers;  for  in  doing  so,  many  a  man 
has  been  robbed  and  some  have  lost  their  lives. 

The  fair  sex  are  sometimes  at  fault  in  this  respect  and 
indirectly  responsible  for  certain  kinds  of  crime.  When 
they  go  shopping  they  carry  in  their  hands  wallets  or 
pocket-books  containing  small  amounts  of  money.  In 
former  years  they  carried  their  money  in  their  dress 
pockets.  By  exposing  their  pocket-books  they  tempt  the 
moral  defective  to  commit  crime.  Men  and  women  also 
tempt  the  instinctive  criminal,  when  they  carry,  exposed 
to  public  gaze,  watches  and  jewelry  on  the  person.  It  is 
true  that  this  is  our  right.  But  we  must  not  tempt  men. 
I  believe  that  the  crimes  of  pocket-book  snatching  and 
larcenies  from  the  person  would  be  few  and  far  between 
if  people  carried  their  valuables  concealed  from  public 
view. 

Frequently  we  meet  people  who  possess  a  morbid  pro- 
pensity to  commit  crime.  On  some  things  they  are  perfect- 
ly rational,  on  others  they  are  incapable  of  acting  correctly. 
You  can  safely  say,  they  are  mildly  insane! 

Here  is  a  lady  on  the  street  with  a  chatelaine  bag  dang- 
ling around  her  waist.  The  thief  presumes  that  it  contains 
money  and  other  valuables.  The  owner  is  unconsciously 
tempting  a  poor  weakling.  From  our  standpoint  this  is  a 
dangerous  expedient.  By  and  by  there  comes  along  a  poor, 
hungry,  homeless,  penniless  creature.  He  possesses  crim- 
inal instincts.  He  sees  the  pocket-book  in  the  lady's  pos- 
session. It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  the  sight  of  money 
awakens  the  worst  passions  of  men.  An  evil  impulse  takes 
possession  of  him.  He  seizes  the  money  and  runs  away. 
This  is  not  an  exceptional  case.  The  criminal  annals  of 
New  York  can  furnish  hundreds  of  such  cases,  where  men 
were  seized  with  an  impulse  to  commit  a  crime  that  sent 
them  to  prison  for  many  years. 

We  knew  personally  the  cases  of  two  young  men,  bank 


42  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

messengers,  who  were  bonded  in  a  surety  company  for  five 
thousand  dollars  each,  but  had  only  a  salary  of  eight  dol- 
lars per  week.  They  were  entrusted  with  large  sums  of 
money  daily,  which  they  received  in  collections.  Both 
claimed  at  different  times,  to  have  been  seized  with  an  evil 
impulse  to  abscond  with  the  money,  which  they  did.  The 
first  took  $5,000  and  left  the  city.  He  went  to  Chicago, 
then  to  a  southern  city.  Here  he  considered  what  he  had 
done,  in  the  light  of  cold  reason.  He  sent  a  dispatch  to  the 
bank,  saying  that  he  would  return  with  the  money  in  two 
days.  He  did  so.  He  accounted  for  all  he  took  away  ex- 
cept the  railroad  fare  and  hotel  bills,  which  his  people 
made  good.  That  young  man  had  always  borne  a  splendid 
reputation  for  honesty  and  truthfulness.  When  I  asked 
him  why  he  left  the  city  with  other  people's  money,  he 
replied,  "An  irresistible  impulse  came  over  me  and  for  a 
time  I  was  like  a  crazy  man  under  a  spell.  It  is  all  a 
dream  to  me.     I  cannot  understand  it." 

The  second  lad  had  gone  away  with  $56,000,  $6,000  of 
which  was  in  hard  cash  and  the  balance  in  bonds.  He  re- 
turned the  bonds  to  the  bank  by  a  messenger.  They  were 
really  useless  to  him.  When  he  had  spent  nearly  all  the 
money  he  concluded  to  give  himself  up. 

A  poor  unfortunate  who  was  sent  to  prison  for  a  long 
term  for  pocket-book  snatching  explained  his  conduct  by 
saying,  "I  was  cold  and  hungry.  All  at  once  I  was  seized 
with  an  uncontrollable  impulse  to  take  by  force  what  did 
not  belong  to  me.     It  came  over  me  like  a  spell." 

Under  ordinary  circumstances,  I  am  not  inclined  to  take 
much  stock  in  this  "spell"  theory.  I  think  that  in  most 
cases,  we  can  restrain  ourselves  when  these  impulses  come 
over  us. 

A  Brooklyn  Supreme  Court  Judge,  who  is  noted  for  his 
outspoken  good  sense,  while  sitting  in  a  neighboring  city 
trying  criminal  cases,  severely  rebuked  some  rich   people 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  43 

for  carelessly  tempting  working  men  employed  on  their 
premises.  It  seems  that  while  certain  persons  were  em- 
ployed as  painters  and  decorators  in  the  home  of  a  million- 
aire, that  jewelry  and  other  valuables  were  left  carelessly 
within  their  reach.  The  result  was  that  one  of  the  men 
stole  some  of  the  valuables,  and  was  sent  to  prison.  It 
was  shown  at  the  trial  that  this  workman  was  not  a  criminal 
and  had  always  borne  a  good  reputation.  But  the  jewelry 
which  lay  around  so  carelessly  in  this  home  appealed  to 
him.  Such  temptations  arouse  in  men  the  worst  passions, 
and  even  prey  on  their  minds. 

A  young  man  whom  I  met  in  the  Tombs  broke  down  and 
wept  as  he  told  me  the  story  of  his  disgrace.  He  loved  a 
young  woman  and  desired  to  seal  his  engagement  to  her 
with  a  gold  ring.  He  went  down  to  a  Maiden  Lane  store. 
He  explained  the  object  of  his  visit  to  the  salesman.  He 
had  nine  dollars  in  his  pocket  and  was  willing  to  pay  a  fair 
price  for  what  he  wanted.  The  salesman  went  to  a  case 
and  took  therefrom  a  handful  of  gold  rings  and  placed  them 
before  him  on  a  velvet  cloth  and  then  went  away.  As  the 
young  man  examined  the  rings  alone  the  temptation  seized 
him  to  secrete  one  and  conceal  it  on  his  person.  He  did  so 
with  the  result  that  the  salesman  saw  him.  He  had  not 
only  tempted  him  but  he  concealed  himself  and  watched 
all  his  movements  with  aid  of  a  mirror. 

Another  way  in  which  both  men  and  women  are  fre- 
quently made  criminals  is  by  the  present  instalment  system. 
For  example,  persons  purchase  watches,  jewelry,  type- 
writers, clothing  and  furniture  and  agree  to  pay  for  the 
same  by  weekly  or  monthly  instalments.  The  buyer  is 
compelled  to  sign  an  agreement  in  which  he  waives  his 
right  to  his  property  till  the  last  payment  is  made.  If  he 
has  purchased  a  watch  or  suit  of  clothes  and  defaults  on  a 
payment  he  is  compelled  to  surrender  the  property  or  be 
liable  to  an  indictment  for  grand  larceny.     The  trouble  is, 


44  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

our  legislature,  to  accommodate  commercial  sharpers, 
changes  what  has  always  been  considered  a  civil  suit  into  a 
criminal  offence.  Any  one  who  sells  another  a  typewriter 
takes  chances  to  get  his  money  back,  the  same  as  the  baker 
who  sells  him  a  loaf  of  bread.  If  he  is  unable  to  pay  that 
debt  honestly  the  seller  has  no  right  to  have  recourse  to  an 
indictment  to  force  him.     This  is  all  wrong. 

Just  where  our  State  or  local  authorities  can  draw  the 
line  between  an  insane  and  a  rational  criminal,  it  would  be 
hard  to  say.  And  how  far  people  who  possess  criminal 
tendencies  should  be  allowed  to  roam  at  large  is  also  im- 
portant. But  how  far  individuals  and  corporations  should 
be  allowed  to  tempt  moral  weaklings  to  commit  crime  is  a 
question  for  the  twentieth  century  statesman  and  penolo- 
gist to  decide. 


INSIDE  AND   OUT  45 


CHAPTER  IV. 

KOW  CRIMINALS  ARE  MADE 

Since  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  crime  of  every  kind  has 
made  enormous  strides,  not  only  in  our  large  cities  but  also 
in  our  sparsely  populated  districts.  Various  reasons  have 
been  assigned  for  this  condition  of  things  but  the  reasons 
given  are  not  entirely  satisfactory.  One  thing,  however, 
is  certain,  the  temptations  of  modern  times,  which  engulf 
and  enslave  so  many  of  our  young  people,  were  never  more 
numerous  or  more  alluring  than  they  are  to-day.  And  the 
saddest  thing  of  all  is  that  very  little  is  done  to  take  the 
temptations  out  of  the  way  or  reduce  them  to  a  minimum. 

I  believe  bad  homes  are  largely  responsible  for  many  of 
the  moral  shipwrecks  of  our  day.  A  report  of  the  superin- 
tendent of  Elmira  Reformatory  states  that  fifty-two  per 
cent,  of  all  the  inmates  of  that  institution  came  from  posi- 
tively bad  homes  and  only  seven  per  cent,  from  positively 
good  homes.  Without  going  any  further  into  this  discus- 
sion, it  would  be  well  to  find  out  what  makes  bad  homes 
and,  if  possible,  furnish  a  remedy,  so  as  to  save  our  young 
people  from  becoming  criminals.  By  all  means  find  out 
the  disease  and  then  apply  the  remedy.  This  is  the  only 
rational  thing  to  do,  and  to  this  method  of  treatment  few 
persons  can  object. 

The  fact  that  crime  increases  faster  than  the  ratio  of 
population  should  come  to  our  statesmen  with  startling 
effect  and  set  them  thinking  to  know  just  what  methods 
should  be  used  to  change  the  evil  currents  of  the  times. 

As    long   as  fierce    temptations    are    allowed    to    surge 


46  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

around  our  young  people,  especially  in  large  cities,  so  long 
may  we  expect  to  see  them  in  the  police  net  and  afterward 
filling  prison  cells.  Crime  is  a  menace  to  our  republican 
institutions  and  in  the  end  will  reduce  a  free  people  to 
anarchy  or  serfdom. 

One  of  the  crime  makers  of  our  time,  as  is  evident  from 
everyday  facts  and  figures,  is  the  liquor  traffic.  From  fifty 
to  seventy  per  cent,  of  all  convicted  felons  have  been 
ruined  by  it.  Many  a  man  who  is  behind  the  bars  to-day 
never  would  have  been  there  were  it  not  for  strong  drink 
that  robbed  him  of  his  senses  in  a  weak  moment,  and  made 
him  a  criminal  and  a  fool.  In  states  where  the  rum  power 
is  under  the  ban  and  prohibition  strictly  or  even  partially 
enforced,  jails  are  usually  empty  except  for  a  few  petty 
offenders. 

Some  men  say  that  immigration  is  largely  responsible 
for  the  criminality  of  to-day.  That  there  is  some  truth  in 
this  statement  we  have  no  doubt  whatever.  But  to  hold 
immigrants  responsible  for  the  criminality  of  this  age  is  un- 
fair and  uncharitable.  That  some  parts  of  Europe  send 
people  to  this  country  who  are  expert  criminals  and  others 
full  of  criminal  instincts,  is  true  in  part.  That  people  with- 
out means  and  employment  drift  to  the  United  States  from 
every  land  and  when  in  want  naturally  attack  property 
under  the  spur  of  necessity,  coupled,  of  course,  with  low 
ethical  standards  and  lacking  a  sense  of  moral  obligation, 
and  perhaps  possessing  weak  resistive  powers,  is  also  true. 

Often  persons  are  driven  to  crime  by  motives  generated 
in  a  vicious  nature,  and  as  they  are  too  weak  to  resist  they 
soon  lose  their  liberty,  and  society  to  protect  itself  simply 
places  them  behind  the  bars.  Criminality  is  simply  the 
darkened  side  of  a  reckless,  sinful  life,  showing  itself  in 
deeds  of  wickedness  and  rebellion  against  God  and  man. 
Any  one  with  such  an  impulse  will  dare  to  commit  the  most 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  47 

atrocious  crime  on  record  and  will  not  think  of  the  conse- 
quences! 

The  small  army  of  boys  that  are  committed  to  prison  in 
this  city  every  year  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  twenty, 
for  every  crime  on  the  calendar,  shows  the  trend  of  the 
rising  generation  toward  delinquency.  In  these  figures  we 
leave  out  of  consideration  several  thousands  of  boys  and 
girls  who  are  disposed  of  by  the  city  magistrates,  many  of 
whom  are  sent  to  the  Reform  School,  Juvenile  Asylum  and 
the  House  of  Refuge,  while  others  are  discharged  on  sus- 
pended sentences,  with  a  warning  to  keep  out  of  bad  com- 
pany. 

I  believe  the  first  and  foremost  cause  of  crime  in  our 
large  cities,  as  I  have  intimated,  as  well  as  the  degradation 
of  the  poor  man's  home,  is  the  American  saloon.  Nor  will 
there  be  any  material  decrease  in  the  volume  of  crime  till 
the  power  of  the  saloon  has  been  crushed.  Our  stupid, 
thick-skulled,  short-sighted  reformers  and  state  legislators 
forget  that  the  soul-dishonoring  and  God-defying  gin  mill 
is  the  great  crime  generator  of  the  twentieth  century.  The 
one  primary  cause  of  crime  to-day  is  alcohol,  and  as  a  well- 
known  authority  says:  "The  decrease  in  the  use  of  alco- 
holic drink  must  ever  remain  the  great  aim  of  anti-criminal 
legislation  as  well  as  of  future  moral  and  social  reform." 
A  mass  of  absolutely  correct  statistics  could  be  given  in 
support  of  this  statement,  if  necessary. 

In  many  of  the  crimes  committed  by  young  men  which 
we  have  personally  investigated,  it  has  been  a  question  with 
us  who  has  been  the  greatest  criminal,  the  state,  the  parents 
or  the  boy.  Many  a  young  man  would  never  have  reached 
prison  had  his  parents  placed  around  him  any  reasonable 
moral  safeguards.  When  I  remember  that  hundreds  of 
boys  who  get  into  the  Tombs  every  year  come  from  homes 
of   poverty,  misery,    drunkenness,   profanity   and   vice   of 


48  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

every  name,  I  do  not  wonder  when  I  see  crime  written  on 
their  pale  faces. 

If  Gladstone's  dictum  were  to  actuate  our  state  legisla- 
ture, laws  would  be  forthwith  passed,  making  it  a  crime  to 
sell  to  minors  the  blood-curdling  novel,  tobacco  or  cigar- 
ettes, or  intoxicating  liquor  in  any  form.  Boys  should  be 
prohibited  from  going  to  prize  fights,  the  race  course,  gam- 
bling hells,  theatres,  billiard  halls,  or  even  from  staying  on 
the  street  after  nine  o'clock  at  night.  This  might  seem 
harsh,  but  if  strictly  carried  out  we  have  no  doubt  whatever 
that  crime  would  be  reduced  thereby. 

It  was  a  law  in  the  Commonwealth  of  Israel,  promulgat- 
ed long  before  their  settlement  in  Canaan,  that  when  they 
built  a  house  in  the  promised  land  they  must  put  a  railing 
or  battlement  around  the  roof  to  protect  their  children  from 
injury  by  accidentally  falling  off.  If  the  state  were  to 
make  it  difficult  for  our  young  people  to  do  wrong  by  erect- 
ing around  them  moral  barriers,  there  would  be  less  crimin- 
ality among  boys  and  young  men,  and  fewer  human  ship- 
wrecks in  after  life. 

When  young  men  are  admitted  to  prison  for  the  first 
time,  efforts  should  be  put  forth  to  save  them.  The  work 
of  isolation,  separation  and  classification  should  then  begin. 
If  the  authorities  were  to  sift  and  separate  the  good  from 
the  bad,  the  precious  from  the  vile,  I  am  positive  there 
would  be  fewer  recidivists  who  are  now  compelled  to  re- 
peat the  same  prison  experiences  several  times  over. 

Hundreds  of  boys  who  are  sent  to  the  Tombs  enjoy  the 
novelty  immensely.  It  is  a  new  experience  to  them,  and 
as  such  is  exciting.  In  prison  they  are  huddled  together  as 
a  band  of  incorrigibles.  There  seems  to  be  no  punishment 
in  such  an  experience.  Some  of  them  are  better  off  there 
than  they  would  be  in  their  homes.  They  get  enough  to 
eat.  In  some  prisons  they  can  smoke  all  the  cigarettes  and 
read  all  the  dime  novels  they  please.     If  up  till  this  time 


Tie  new  Tomhs  prison. 


^HB  i 

jJBBIy 

J  III IB 

mm. 

^                   m jj  ; 

The  open  corridor  of  the  women's 
prison  of  the  Tombs. 


The  old  Tomhs  entrance  on  Leonard 
street. 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  49 

they  have  been  ignorant  of  the  ways  of  pickpockets  and 
sneak  thieves,  when  they  come  out,  after  a  few  weeks'  in- 
carceration, they  are  expert  crooks,  and  fifty  per  cent,  of 
them  are  soon  back  in  prison. 

In  order  to  reduce  crime  among  boys  we  must  take  away 
the  operating  causes.  There  is  no  other  way  to  reach  the 
desired  end,  and  the  sooner  we  get  our  eyes  open  to  these 
facts,  the  better  for  ourselves  and  everybody  else. 

The  object  of  all  prison  discipline  should  be  the  moral 
transformation  of  young  offenders.  They  should  be  taught 
righteousness  and  purity  of  life,  honesty  and  industry,  self- 
respect  and  courteous  behaviour  to  all.  Whenever  prison 
reform  comes  short  of  this,  it  is  a  failure,  and  society  at 
large  is  injured  thereby. 


50  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE  SCIENTIFIC  CRIMINAL 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  criminal  product  of  the 
twentieth  century  is  vastly  different  in  its  make  up  and 
harder  to  deal  with  than  the  criminal  of  any  other  century 
of  the  Christian  era.  Not  perhaps  from  the  standpoint  of 
moral  depravity,  for  all  criminals  are  depraved,  although 
some  seem  to  be  more  so  than  others.  But  the  criminal  of 
to-day  to  be  successful  in  his  operations  must  be  daring  in 
his  conceptions  and  highly  scientific  in  his  methods;  other- 
wise he  will  be  unable  to  cope  with  the  difficulties  in  his 
way. 

Criminals  as  a  rule  are  not  indifferent  to  the  feelings  of 
honest  men  as  to  their  methods  of  getting  a  living.  They 
know  full  well  they  do  wrong.  Yet  if  you  cross  their  path 
while  in  the  act  of  committing  a  felony,  they  will  without 
the  least  hesitation  take  your  life,  and  think  nothing  of  it. 
All  men  who  start  out  on  a  mission  of  crime  make  up  their 
minds  beforehand  to  take  "no  chances."  They  are  strenu- 
ously against  every  one  that  opposes  them  and  they  know 
that  every  honest,  law-abiding  citizen  is  against  them. 

But  the  great  advance  in  civilization  the  past  hundred 
years  and  the  easy  way  fortunes  seem  to  be  accumulated, 
has  unquestionably  invented  new  methods  of  guarding  the 
wealth,  but  it  has  also  sharpened  the  criminal's  wit,  making 
him  more  practical  in  his  deeds  of  daring  and  ingenious  in 
his  plans  and  operations. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  criminals  of  to-day  do  not 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  51 

carry  around  with  them  long  "jimmies,"  saws  or  crowbars 
such  as  were  used  by  the  old  school  crooks. 

The  twentieth  century  "outfit"  of  an  experienced  criminal 
seldom  weighs  more  than  sixteen  to  twenty  ounces.  The 
entire  "kit"  is  made  of  the  finest  steel  instruments  and  by 
these  he  is  able  to  find  his  way  to  strong  boxes,  bureau 
drawers  and  closets  of  the  best  city  and  country  residences. 
If  he  thinks  he  has  to  encounter  a  safe  he  will  carry  with 
him  an  electric  drill  by  which  he  can  punch  holes  in  steel 
plates  at  short  notice. 

With  these  he  has  besides  a  silk  rope  ladder,  which  has 
an  attachment  that  can  take  him  to  the  roof  of  a  house  or 
get  him  to  the  street  from  any  part  of  the  building  when  he 
desires. 

With  the  outfit  just  described  a  Connecticut  crook  was 
able  to  commit  sixty  burglaries  in  less  than  three  months 
in  this  city.  The  typical  twentieth  century  criminal  is 
therefore  a  most  dangerous  character  to  deal  with,  and 
when  in  possession  of  a  gun  he  lets  nothing  stand  in  his 
way. 

Scientific  writers  on  penology  of  recent  times  have 
divided  the  criminal  into  many  parts  for  the  purpose  of 
analyzing  the  natural  causes  that  have  led  to  his  downfall 
and  the  treatment  best  calculated  to  bring  about  his  restor- 
ation. 

One  of  the  grave  defects,  in  the  study  of  criminal  law, 
is  that  while  the  lawyer  ransacks  the  Code  in  an  effort  to 
save  or  punish  the  wrongdoer,  the  criminal's  moral  nature 
is  entirely  ignored.  This  is  certainly  not  right.  We  firmly 
believe  that  the  best  possible  way  of  reaching  a  correct 
solution  of  the  mysterious  dualism  which  confronts  us  in 
our  study  of  criminal  character,  is  to  find  out  not  only  his 
early  habits,  but  what  he  is  in  his  normal  and  abnormal 
conditions,  and  how  his  delusions  can  be  removed. 

But  there   are   criminals  and   criminals.     Some   indeed 


52  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

are  born  into  criminal  lives  from  infancy,  aided  by  the  laws 
of  heredity,  while  others  become  criminals  on  the  impulse 
of  the  moment  and  for  months  or  years,  run  a  wild  career 
of  wrong  doing,  but  afterwards  change  the  course  of  their 
conduct,  and  become  useful  members  of  society.  Of 
course  the  only  kind  of  reformation  that  becomes  perma- 
nent is  the  kind  that  changes  the  man  inside  and  out. 
Others  like  the  twig  that  is  bent,  remain  crooked  all  their 
lives.  Nor  does  imprisonment  improve  such  people  to  any 
great  extent.  Harsh  treatment  may  subdue  the  animal 
passions  but  will  not  change  his  higher  nature. 

We  do  not  believe  that  God  brands  any  man  as  the  victim 
of  an  unavoidable  destiny,  nor  does  He  compel  him  to  live 
a  criminal  life  against  his  will.  The  fact  is  each  law 
breaker  is  the  victim  of  his  own  depraved  will  and  is  what 
he  wants  to  be. 

The  twentieth  century  crook  in  forgery,  burglary,  safe 
cracking  and  swindling  studies  the  situation  so  carefully 
that  in  two-thirds  of  the  cases  he  is  able  to  "beat"  the  law. 
A  greenhorn  crook  is  sure  to  leave  traces  behind  him  but 
an  expert  never.  The  twentieth  century  crook  uses  an 
automobile  and  naphtha  launch  so  as  to  disappear  with  his 
"loot"  to  parts  unknown.  When  he  travels  at  home  or 
abroad,  he  patronizes  the  most  expensive  hotels,  the  dear- 
est express  trains,  and  only  the  best  accommodations  on 
ocean  steamers.     Expert  crooks  as  a  rule  travel  in  pairs. 

Under  the  head  of  Criminal  Anthropology  we  are  called 
upon  to  study  the  criminal's  anatomy,  social  and  moral 
habits  and  temperments.  But  the  strangest  thing  about 
him  is  that  though  he  may  be  physically  and  mentally 
normal — just  as  other  men  are — he  is  abnormal  morally. 
We  must  always  remember,  however,  that  while  we  con- 
sider the  criminal  scientifically,  his  disease  is  entirely 
moral.  Nor  has  the  average  criminal  any  peculiarities 
that  are  not  common  to  the  rank  and  file  of  other  men  in 


INSIDE   AND    OUT  53 

every  walk  of  life.  His  head  and  his  heart  and  his  brain 
are  like  those  of  other  men  and  he  shows  the  marks  of 
human  folly  just  as  men  do  who  never  saw  the  inside  of  a 
jail. 

As  a  rule  the  criminal  is  largely  a  creature  of  circum- 
stances; often  too  lazy  to  work  and  unwilling  to  resist  the 
common  temptations  of  life,  he  simply  drifts.  He  takes  to 
crime  as  an  easy  way  of  making  a  living  and  often  believes 
that  the  fates  are  against  him,  as  an  excuse  for  his  wrong- 
doing, or  perhaps  he  has  a  foolish  delusion  that  there  is 
something  heroic  in  criminality. 

Crime  is  defined  as  a  violation  of  a  human  law  enacted 
by  the  state  in  its  own  defense,  and  the  criminal  is  the  one 
who  wilfully  breaks  that  law  and  makes  himself  amenable 
to  it. 

The  most  noted  authority  in  our  day  on  crime  and  crim- 
inals is  Lombroso,  the  Italian  penologist,  who  has  made  a 
thorough  study  of  the  subject.  In  describing  the  criminal 
we  find  there  is  a  freshness  of  detail  to  whatever  he  says, 
and  he  writes  like  one  familiar  with  the  subject.  Lom- 
broso rightly  contends  that  criminals  must  be  dealt  with, 
not  according  to  the  way  that  society  views  the  crime,  but 
according  to  the  circumstances  and  conditions  that  have  led 
to  it,  and  our  laws  must  be  changed  to  meet  the  new  condi- 
tions. "Penal  repression,"  says  Lombroso,  "should  be 
based  on  social  utility  scientifically  demonstrated;  instead 
of  studying  law  books,  we  should  study  the  criminal.  It  is 
doubtless  true  the  criminal,  as  a  rule,  has  feeble  cranial 
capacity,  a  heavy  developed  jaw,  large  orbital  capacity, 
projecting  superciliary  ridges,  an  abnormal  and  symmetrical 
cranium,  a  scanty  beard  or  none,  or  an  abundance  of  hair, 
projecting  ears  and  frequently  a  crooked  or  flat  nose. 
Criminals  are  sometimes  subject  to  Daltonism  or  left- 
handedness,  their  muscular  force  is  feeble  and  alcoholic 
and  epileptic  degeneration  exists  among  them  to  a  large 


54  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

extent.  Their  nerve  centres  are  frequently  pigmented. 
They  blush  with  difficulty.  Their  moral  degeneracy  corre- 
sponds to  their  physical  make  up.  Their  criminal  tenden- 
cies are  manifested  in  infancy  by  onanism,  cruelty,  inclin- 
ation to  steal,  excessive  vanity  and  impulsive  character. 
The  criminal  in  a  large  number  of  cases  is  lazy,  cowardly, 
not  susceptible  to  remorse,  without  foresight,  fond  of  tat- 
tooing. His  handwriting  is  peculiar,  his  signature  is  com- 
plicated and  adorned  with  flourishes.  His  slang  is  widely 
diffused,  abbreviated  and  full  of  archaisms." 

Before  we  leave  the  subject  it  would  be  well  to  say  that 
naturally  the  criminal  is  the  product  of  anomalous  condi- 
tions of  long  standing  that  have  worked  themselves  into 
the  moral  fibre  of  his  being.  After  many  years  the  crimin- 
al has  come  to  bear  the  distinguishing  peculiarities  of  crime 
which  mark  him  as  a  man  among  men.  So  that  to-day  with 
all  our  advanced  civilization,  the  criminal  stands  midway, 
as  Lombroso  remarks,  "Between  the  savage  and  the 
lunatic." 

It  has  therefore  become  a  perplexing  question  what  is  to 
be  done  with  him,  for  during  the  four  hundred  years  of 
white  civilization  on  the  American  Continent  his  condition 
remains  almost  the  same. 

After  many  years  of  failure  to  improve  him,  would  it 
not  be  well  to  adjust  the  penal  treatment  to  his  nature  as  a 
man  and  eliminate  from  his  life  the  temptations  that  over- 
came him?  For  example,  thousands  of  people  are  arrested 
yearly  in  New  York  for  drunkenness,  a  temptation  which 
they  cannot  resist.  Why  not  close  the  saloons  and  thus 
take  even  this  one  temptation  out  of  the  way  of  such  weak- 
lings? At  any  rate,  if  our  prison  populations  are  to  be 
reduced,  society  must  pass  a  law  to  prevent  crime,  or  invent 
something  that  shall  defeat  the  conditions  that  make  men 
criminals. 

At  the  present  time  the  main  object  of  a  criminal  court 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  55 

is  to  find  out  if  a  defendant  is  guilty  or  innocent.  If  guilty, 
the  sentence  of  the  Court  is  measured  by  the  character  of 
the  crime  and  not  by  the  conditions  that  led  to  it.  Before 
the  wrongdoer  can  be  reformed  our  criminal  laws  must  be 
readjusted  to  the  conditions  of  the  times.  Many  of  those 
who  come  into  our  courts  for  sentence,  if  not  hardened 
criminals  themselves,  are  the  offspring  of  criminal  parents 
or  are  mentally  defective,  weak-minded  or  insane,  epilep- 
tics or  otherwise  diseased. 

Crime  gnaws  at  the  life  of  the  nation,  destroys  its  vitality 
and  wastes  its  wealth.  We  can  stand  changes  of  govern- 
ment or  changes  of  policy,  hard  times,  prosperity  and  ad- 
versity, but  no  nation  can  long  survive  the  awful  demoral- 
ization of  crime. 

But  what  an  anomalous  life  the  criminal  lives!  After 
having  many  chances  and  opportunities  placed  in  his  way 
to  live  right,  he  refuses  the  good  and  chooses  the  evil.  He 
will  not  reform  nor  do  better.  He  has  become  a  misan- 
thrope; he  hates  himself  and  everybody  else. 

The  only  sure  remedy  for  the  present  day  criminal  is  the 
indeterminate  sentence;  he  should  be  detained  in  prison 
under  the  most  rigorous  discipline,  till  he  is  reformed  or 
cured  of  his  insane  notions.  It  is  nothing  short  of  a  crime 
to  turn  such  people  loose  to  scourge  society  after  a  few 
months  or  years'  detention  in  prison. 

European  criminologists  are  unanimous  in  advocating  the 
most  restrictive  measures  for  incorrigibles,  such  as  hard 
labor,  longer  imprisonment  and  more  repressive  humilia- 
tion, or  if  necessary,  deportation  and  exile.  Professor 
Prins  of  Brussels  says,  "The  solution  of  the  question  of  the 
incorrigible  lies  in  a  progressive  aggravation  of  punishment 
and  the  absence  of  all  prison  luxury."  After  reading  a 
mass  of  opinions  on  v/hat  should  be  done  with  the  criminal 
incorrigible  and  how  he  should  be  punished,  all  of  which 
had  not  a  ray  of  hope  in  it  for  his  higher  nature,  we  thought 


56  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

of  the  British  soldier  in  India  half  a  century  ago,  who  was 
called  up  for  sentence  before  a  court  martial;  he  had  suf- 
fered all  sorts  of  imprisonment,  corporal  punishment  and 
all  manner  of  deprivation  and  humiliations,  but  all  to  no 
purpose;  the  punishments  only  hardened  him.  But  now  a 
new  commander  came  on  the  scene  who,  after  hearing  all 
that  could  be  said  against  him,  dismissed  him  with  an  ad- 
monition, saying  that  they  forgave  him,  asking  him  from 
henceforth  to  go  and  sin  no  more.  The  effect  of  this  was 
that  he  broke  down  and  wept  like  a  child.  He  had  steeled 
his  heart  to  every  kind  of  punishment,  but  when  they  tried 
kindness  it  touched  him. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  57 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SOME  FAMOUS  TOMBS  PRISONERS 

During  its  long  and  eventful  history  the  Tombs  has  had 
many  notable  prisoners.  It  would  be  impossible  in  this 
brief  sketch  to  do  justice  to  this  subject  by  giving  a  full 
and  detailed  account  of  the  deeds  and  escapades  of  these 
persons.  But  the  men  of  money  and  influence  who  have 
had  the  misfortune  to  be  sent  to  the  City  Prison  have  al- 
ways fared  well.  Although  it  is  not  always  the  case,  the 
rich  and  poor  in  such  a  place  should  be  treated  with  becom- 
ing fairness  and  moderation,  not  simply  because  they  are 
rich  or  poor,  but  the  law  presumes  a  man  to  be  innocent 
till  his  guilt  is  proved  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt.  It  is 
well  known  that  a  great  many  people  are  sent  to  the  Tombs 
every  year  on  trumped  up  charges.  As  they  are  not  crim- 
inals, it  would  be  manifestly  improper  to  deny  them  the  de- 
served consideration  to  which  every  uncondemned  man  is 
entitled  in  this  enlightened  age. 

In  dealing  with  this  subject  we  shall  only  mention  the 
names  of  a  few  v/ell  known  persons. 

In  1842  the  Tombs  had  a  prisoner  named  Monroe  Ed- 
wards; he  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  noted  and 
boldest  of  all  round  forgers  of  the  time.  He  had  plenty 
of  money  and  lived  more  like  a  prince  than  a  prisoner.  He 
was  able  to  engage  the  most  eminent  counsel  in  his  behalf. 
His  wardrobe  was  the  finest  and  most  expensive  that  money 
could  buy.  He  was  allowed  to  furnish  his  cell  in  an 
elegant  manner.  Lady  friends  and  admirers  called  upon 
him  daily  and  brought  bouquets  and  cut  flowers  in  abund- 


58  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

ance,  all  of  which  he  was  permitted  to  receive,  on  the 
ground  that  the  law  presumed  him  innocent  till  found 
guilty.  There  must  have  been  many  abuses  in  the  Tombs 
in  those  days,  perhaps  as  glaring  as  those  that  exist  to-day. 
For  example,  Edwards  received  other  gifts  from  his  lady 
friends  besides  flowers  and  knick-knacks  for  his  cell.  These 
consisted  of  a  set  of  highly  tempered  steel  saws  for  iron 
work,  a  silk  rope  ladder,  grappling  irons  and  a  horse  pistol. 
These  were  to  be  used  to  enable  him  to  make  good  his 
escape,  if  he  so  desired.  As  soon  as  the  Warden  learned 
that  he  possessed  these  things,  he  went  to  his  cell  and  made 
a  demand  of  Edwards  for  their  surrender.  After  they  were 
confiscated  many  of  Edwards'  privileges  were  cut  off. 

John  Scannel,  a  Tammany  politician,  having  filled  a 
number  of  offices  within  the  City  Government,  but  who 
more  recently  was  Fire  Commissioner  during  Mayor  Van 
Wyck's  administration,  was  an  inmate  of  the  Tombs  in  the 
fall  of  1871. 

On  September  19th  of  that  year  he  shot  Thomas  Dono- 
hue  whom  he  supposed  to  have  been  the  man  who  had 
assaulted  his  brother  Florence.  The  charge  against  him 
was  homicide.  But  like  many  other  Tammany  officials,  he 
had  a  tremendous  "pull"  and  was  soon  afterwards  admitted 
to  bail  in  the  sum  of  $20,000.     He  was  finally  cleared. 

The  Tombs'  authorities  have  always  been  indulgent  to 
the  men  who  lived  on  "Murderers'  Row."  The  foolish  idea 
that  comes  down  through  the  ages,  which  pictures  the  mur- 
derer resting  on  a  pallet  of  straw  with  a  chain  around  his 
neck,  has  certainly  never  been  experienced  in  the  Tombs. 
Twenty  years  ago  and  even  later,  nearly  all  the  cells  on 
Murderers'  Row  received  bouquets  of  flowers  almost  every 
morning.  And  some  of  them  had  bird  cages,  swinging 
shelves,  lace  curtains,  carpets  and  draperies.  When  you 
entered  such  a  cell,  your  feet  did  not  touch  the  stone  floor, 
but  a   rug   or  a   Kidderminister.       And   the   prisoner — he 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  59 

usually  wore  an  elegant  dressing  gown,  silk  slippers  and 
beautiful  clothing;  he  is  shaved  and  groomed  daily;  when 
he  sleeps  it  is  on  a  real  bed  of  comfort.  When  the  old 
prison  was  yet  standing,  every  afternoon  after  he  had  made 
his  toilet  and  was  booted  and  gloved  he  walked  into  the 
yard  for  a  stroll.  Between  four  and  five  o'clock  he  dines; 
he  never  ate  prison  fare.  His  food  came  from  the  outside 
and  consisted  of  a  variety  of  dishes,  such  as  oysters,  quail, 
clams,  fish,  fowl,  roast  beef  and  vegetables — the  best  the 
market  could  provide,  that  is,  for  rich  prisoners.  The  poor 
crooks  had  to  be  content  with  prison  fare  and  take  "pot 
luck." 

On  January  6th,  1872,  at  4:30  p.  m.,  Edward  S.  Stokes 
shot  and  killed  James  Fisk,  Jr.,  in  the  Broadway  Central 
Hotel.  After  the  coroner  had  committed  Stokes  to  the 
Tombs,  he  was  assigned  to  Cell  43  on  "Murderers'  Row," 
which  was  situated  on  the  western  side  of  the  second  tier. 
Soon  after  coming  to  the  City  Prison  he  was  allowed  to  fix 
up  his  cell  in  a  most  lavish  manner;  for  example,  he  was 
permitted  to  put  a  hard  finish  on  the  walls  of  his  cell,  fit 
it  with  several  fine  pieces  of  furniture,  pictures  on  the 
walls,  damask  curtains  and  Turkish  rugs  galore!  He  was 
permitted  to  build  a  walnut  toilet  stand  in  his  cell.  He 
was  also  allowed  the  use  of  the  yard  whenever  he  desired 
and  to  walk  about  unmolested.  The  graft  paid  in  those 
days  for  such  liberties,  must  have  been  enormous  as  he 
had  more  privileges  than  any  ten  men. 

It  is  also  said  that  Stokes  had  a  large  room  on  the  Centre 
Street  side  of  the  old  prison  where  he  received  his  friends 
v/ho  called  on  him  daily.  It  was  here  that  he  ate  the 
choicest  cuts,  the  best  turkeys  the  market  could  furnish, 
and  where  he  and  his  friends  regaled  themselves  with  the 
best  champagne  and  claret,  and  smoked  the  finest  cigars. 
It  is  also  said  by  men  now  living  that  Stokes  often  attended 
the  Bowery  theatre  accompanied,  of  course,  by  a  couple  of 


60  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

keepers,  who  danced  attendance  on  him — all  of  which  cost 
money. 

Stokes  was  tried  for  murder  three  times.  At  the  close 
of  the  first  two  trials  he  was  convicted  of  murder  in  the 
first  degree  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  At  the  close  of 
the  last  trial  he  was  convicted  of  manslaughter  and  sen- 
tenced to  Sing  Sing  for  four  years. 

Richard  Croker,  all  round  Tammany  Hall  leader  and  poli- 
tician for  many  years,  alderman  and  at  the  time  of  his  in- 
voluntary confinement  in  the  Tombs  a  city  coroner,  shot 
and  killed  John  McKenna  at  Second  Avenue  and  34th 
Street,  November  3rd,  1874.  The  shot  that  killed  Mc- 
Kenna was  intended  for  Ex-Senator  James  O'Brian,  a 
brother  of  Inspector  Steve  O'Brian.  It  is  said  while  an  in- 
mate of  the  Tombs  Croker  had  the  privilege  of  leaving  the 
building  and  returning  when  he  pleased.  How  true  this 
was  nobody  could  tell,  but  others  who  were  able  to  pay  for 
it  had  the  same  privileges  since  that  time.  Money  and 
other  influences  have  always  been  a  tremendous  power  in 
the  Tombs  Prison. 

Ferdinand  Ward,  bank  president  and  bank  looter,  who 
stole  no  less  than  $2,000,000  from  the  Marine  Bank  and 
eventually  ruined  General  Grant,  spent  some  months  in  the 
Tombs  and  was  finally  sent  to  Sing  Sing  for  a  term  of 
years. 

Erastus  Wyman,  a  well-to-do  Staten  Island  Real  Estate 
operator,  lay  in  the  Tombs  for  many  months.  He  had  a 
hard  fight  against  a  horde  of  persecutors  who  sought  his 
ruin.  His  case  went  to  the  Court  of  Appeals,  where  he 
received  a  new  trial.     He  was  never  tried  again. 

Another  rich  banker — I  well  remember  him — was  Cor- 
nelius L.  Alvord.  He  got  away  with  more  than  $700,000 
from  the  First  National  Bank. 

He  was  in  a  cell  in  Murderers'  Row,  in  the  old  prison. 
While  there  he  ate  the  best  food  and  smoked  the  finest 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  61 

cigars  till  he  took  up  his  abode  in  Sing  Sing.  His  sentence 
was  seven  and  one-half  years. 

Roland  Burnham  Molineux,  a  popular  young  man,  was 
arrested  February  2nd,  1899. 

He  lay  in  the  Tombs  about  nine  months  before  the  first 
trial.  Mr.  Molineux  was  plucky,  courageous  and  optimistic. 
It  is  needless  to  say  he  made  many  friends,  all  of  whom 
were  glad  when  he  received  his  liberty.  In  manners  he 
was  a  perfect  gentleman,  courteous  and  obliging  to  all. 
While  in  the  Tombs  he  was  very  kind  to  his  fellow  unfor- 
tunates and  frequently  fed,  clothed  and  shod  needy  prison- 
ers at  his  own  expense. 

Then  there  were  Fritz  Meyer,  Carlyle  Harris,  Doc.  Ken- 
nedy, and  Patrick,  besides,  lawyers,  doctors,  bankers,  in- 
surance agents  and  walking  delegates  without  number. 

Harry  Kendall  Thaw,  a  native  of  Pittsburg,  Pa.,  a  multi- 
millionaire, shot  and  killed  Stanford  White  while  in  Madi- 
son Square  roof  garden  June  6th,  1906.  He  lay  in  the 
Tombs  over  ten  months.  His  first  trial  lasted  nearly  three 
months.  His  immense  wealth  brought  around  him  an 
army  of  friends  who  flattered  him  night  and  day — for  his 
money.  While  in  the  Tombs  he  had  unusual  privileges,  all 
of  which  he  doubtless  paid  for  highly.  Physically  his  im- 
prisonment made  him  a  new  man.  His  defence  is  said  to 
have  cost  him  a  million  dollars.  He  came  from  a  first 
class  family. 

At  his  second  trial  the  Demosthenes  of  the  Brooklyn  Bar, 
Littlefield,  successfully  defended  him  and  saved  him  from 
the  Electric  Chair.  His  mother,  who  is  known  as  a  lovely 
Christian  lady,  visited  him  regularly  during  his  confine- 
ment. Thaw  is  at  present  in  Matteawan.  He  has  made 
several  efforts  to  secure  his  freedom  but  has  failed.  The 
general  opinion  is  that  if  he  keeps  at  it  he  will  succeed. 


62  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  DANGEROUS  EDUCATED  CROOK 

One  of  our  modern  fallacies  is  that  education  is  a  cure 
for  all  the  ails  and  weaknesses  of  life.  There  never  was  a 
greater  mistake.  When  we  think  of  humanity  in  its  de- 
ranged and  weakened  condition  and  the  constant  liability 
to  err — a  liability  that  is  inherent  in  all  men — learned  and 
unlearned — making  them  subject  to  temptations  and  crime 
which  at  any  moment  may  blast  their  lives,  we  must  be 
cautious  about  believing  that  education  alone  can  make 
men  and  women  honest  and  virtuous.  Education  is  only 
a  means  to  an  end,  and  serves  its  purpose  best  when  joined 
to  moral  training  and  industrious  habits  as  taught  in  a  well 
regulated  life.  Without  moral  training,  education  alone 
will  only  generate  a  type  of  cunning  crookedness,  that  will 
be  dangerous  alike  to  the  home  and  the  republic  at  large. 

I  believe  that  education  in  its  best  and  broadest  sense, 
means  not  only  mental  culture,  but  carefully  trained  habits 
of  industry,  together  with  morality  and  religion  as  founded 
on  the  basic  principles  of  the  Decalogue  and  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount — all  of  which  tend  to  promote  the  happiness  of 
the  human  family. 

John  Howard,  the  Morning  Star  of  Prison  Reform,  who 
in  his  day  encouraged  popular  education,  was  careful  to  say, 
"Make  men  diligent  and  you  will  tend  to  make  them  hon- 
est," and  he  added  that  he  did  not  believe  education  of  the 
head  would  amount  to  much  unless  it  was  followed  by 
"education  of  heart  and  hands." 
Within    recent   years    Christian    penologists   are    almost 


INSIDE    AND    OUT  63 

unanimous  in  the  opinion  that  mental  training  alone  has 
little  influence  in  decreasing  crime.  Nor  does  it  follow 
that  in  countries  where  illiteracy  stands  high  that  crime  is 
greater  than  in  countries  where  the  opposite  is  true.  In 
Spain,  where  two-thirds  of  the  people  are  illiterate  there  is 
less  crime,  according  to  the  population,  than  in  Massachu- 
sets  where  nine-tenths  of  the  people  can  read  and  write. 

So  also  in  rural  settlements  where  there  is  always  less 
educational  privileges  than  in  large  cities,  crime  is  vastly 
less  in  the  former  than  in  the  latter. 

In  the  early  history  of  this  country  petty  crimes  were 
usually  committed  against  domestic  products,  but  with  the 
advance  of  our  present  civilization  such  crimes  are  nothing 
compared  to  stealing  railroads,  coal  mines,  gold  mines,  safe 
cracking,  colossal  swindling  and  bank  wrecking  in  which 
millions  are  stolen  yearly.  And  all  of  these  crimes  are  the 
work  of  well  educated  men. 

Victor  Hugo  says,  "He  who  opens  a  school  closes  a  pris- 
on," which  is  true  if  that  school  teaches  the  morality  of  the 
ten  commandments  and  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  but  not 
otherwise. 

In  Great  Britain  in  1880  the  number  of  pupils  in  the 
schools  increased  to  3,895,324,  while  the  prisoners  num- 
bered only  30,719;  but  the  greatest  decrease  in  the  prison 
population  is  seen  in  1899,  when  the  school  pupils  num- 
bered 5,601,249,  while  the  prison  population  fell  to  17,687. 
That  is  to  say,  the  prison  population  decreased  38  per  cent, 
while  the  population  of  the  country  increased  1 1  per  cent. 

Notwithstanding  all  that  may  be  said,  it  is  our  humble 
opinion  after  years  of  observation  that  criminality  is  largely 
the  result  of  ignorance,  idleness  and  indolent  habits.  Since 
I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  reformatories  I  have 
often  thought  of  Isaac  Watts'  philosophy,  "Satan  finds  mis- 
chief for  idle  hands  to  do."  It  is  the  young  loafer  and 
idler  who  is  around  the  streets  night  and  day  "killing  time" 


64  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

that  gets  into  trouble.  Whenever  parents  rear  their  chil- 
dren in  idleness  they  simply  sap  the  foundations  of  personal 
character  and  fit  them  for  criminality.  A  report  of  the 
Elmira  Reformatory  shows  that  of  thousands  of  persons 
who  were  received  into  that  institution  since  it  was  first 
opened  over  83  per  cent,  are  classed  as  laborers  and  idlers. 
For  more  than  fifty  years  it  has  been  said  that  a  greater 
advance  in  education  would  reduce  crime  to  a  large  extent. 
But  this  is  only  true  in  part.  Secular  education  does  not 
reduce  murder,  forger)',  grand  larceny,  embezzlements  and 
other  heinous  crimes.  There  must  be  moral  education. 
Indeed,  such  offences  are  usually  the  work  of  well  edu- 
cated men. 

Those  best  able  to  judge  will  not  deny  that  the  most 
dangerous  person  to-day  is  the  educated  crook.  He  plans 
crime  scientifically,  at  the  same  time  exercising  the  great- 
est care.  Indeed,  he  makes  it  a  business,  and,  as  is 
sometimes  said,  goes  into  it  for  all  he  is  worth.  The  college 
graduate  behind  the  bars  is  becoming  very  common.  At 
the  present  time  nearly  all  of  our  large  prisons  have  doc- 
tors, lawyers,  editors,  teachers  and  others  of  keen  minds 
and  large  professional  experience.  Some  of  the  articles 
found  in  the  Star  of  Hope,  the  State  Prison  paper,  show  a 
wide  range  of  reading,  and  could  only  be  written  by  schol- 
ars. And  at  the  lowest  calculation,  most  of  our  large  pris- 
ons contain  from  five  to  ten  per  cent,  of  college  graduates, 
and  the  number  is  rapidly  increasing. 

One  of  the  most  scholarly  men  that  I  ever  knew  came 
from  a  little  town  in  Massachusetts.  He  was  so  excep- 
tionally bright  that  had  he  put  his  native  talents  and  ener- 
gies into  an  effort  to  keep  the  Ten  Commandments,  instead 
of  aiming  continually  to  plunder  his  fellow  men,  he  might 
have  been  a  Morgan  or  a  Rockefeller.  The  man  of  whom 
I  speak  began  life  as  a  school  teacher,  then  a  clerk  in  the 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  65 

office  of  a  country  attorney.  After  this  he  became  a  full- 
fledged  lawyer,  and  drifted  into  politics. 

From  politics  he  went  into  crime,  and  soon  became  an 
expert  forger  and  swindler  on  a  large  scale,  and  as  a  rule 
he  always  worked  for  "big  game."  As  a  confidence  man 
he  had  a  shrewd  way  of  getting  hold  of  millionaires  and 
fleecing  them. 

A  most  noted  and  clever  crook  some  time  ago  came  to 
grief  in  an  effort  to  impersonate  an  English  earl.  This 
man  had  a  charm  of  manner  about  him  and  other  polished 
ways  that  would  have  given  him  a  place  in  any  society.  But 
he  used  all  his  cleverness  and  scholarship  only  to  make  for 
himself  a  criminal  career  of  the  most  romantic  character. 
He  was  afterwards  sent  to  Sing  Sing  Prison,  where  he 
became  the  first  editor  of  the  Star  of  Hope,  and  a  regular 
"mogul"  among  the  inmates  because  of  his  scholarly  attain- 
ments. It  was  said  that  he  wrote  sermons  for  an  ignorant 
chaplain  now  no  longer  there. 

Another  college  graduate  whom  I  have  known,  and  who 
had  a  national  reputation  for  crookedness,  was  born  in 
western  New  York.  At  his  father's  death  he  inherited 
$600,000.  After  he  had  graduated  from  Columbia  Law 
School,  he  went  West  and  became  a  land  and  grain  spec- 
ulator. He  afterwards  opened  a  bank  and  was  made  pres- 
ident. Then  he  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city  and  state 
senator;  he  ran  for  Congress,  but  was  defeated.  He  was 
an  expert  gambler,  and  he  told  me  that  he  more  than  once 
lost  $40,000  in  one  night,  in  the  Tenderloin.  Having 
been  a  banker  himself  for  several  years,  he  knew  how  to 
"work"  banks  for  all  they  are  worth  by  the  use  of  forged 
checks.  He  was  arrested  five  or  six  times,  but  only  con- 
victed twice,  and  was  then  able  to  cheat  the  prison  by  a 
technicality. 

No  person  is  so  much  exposed  to  crime  as  the  mental 
and  industrial  illiterate,  and  it  will  always  be  so  till  the 


66  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

end  of  time.  But  education  that  does  not  elevate,  purify 
and  generate  high  ideas  in  man  is  nothing  short  of  a  curse 
to  the  individual.  Furthermore,  the  educated  crook  can  do 
vastly  more  harm  in  the  world  than  the  ignorant  crook,  and 
is  much  more  dangerous  when  at  large.  It  does  not  neces- 
sarily follow,  therefore,  that  the  more  educated  the  man  is 
the  better  the  citizen,  nor  that  he  is  less  liable  to  crime. 
The  fact  is  well  admitted  that  in  nearly  all  the  northern  and 
western  cities  the  prison  inmates  are  able  to  read  and 
write,  and  scores  are  classed  as  really  educated.  Among 
the  young  men  that  go  to  Elmira  Reformatory  only  six  to 
nine  per  cent,  are  classified  as  illiterate,  and  the  number  of 
illiterates  admitted  to  Sing  Sing  is  said  to  be  nine  per  cent., 
a  very  small  proportion  when  we  think  of  the  large  num- 
ber of  persons  who  are  sent  there. 

The  Rev.  Fred  H.  Wines,  D.  D.,  defines  education  as 
labor,  instruction  and  religion.    He  says: 

"The  best  preventives  against  crime  are  a  well  trained 
mind,  industrious  habits  and  a  good  moral  life.  And  the 
power  of  a  good  example  and  a  pure  conversation  is  incal- 
culable in  leading  young  people  into  steady  habits  and  a 
noble  life  such  as  they  should  everywhere  follow.  Let  New 
York  follow  out  the  teaching  of  Solomon,  and  there  is  sure 
to  be  less  crime  in  the  future  than  in  the  past:  'Train  up  a 
child  in  the  way  he  should  go,  and  when  he  is  old  he  will 
not  depart  from  it.'  " 


The  only  Man  on  Record  who  is  known  to  have  Pardoned  himself  <>ut  of  Prison. 
He  began  life  as  a  School  Teacher.  Clerk  in  a  Law  Office,  full  fledged  Lawyer 
and  Treasurer  of  a  Political  organization  in  New  England,  with  whose  funds 
he  decamped.  He  has  been  in  Prison  a  dozen  times  under  as  many  aliases. 
where  he  has  sj>ent  twenty-rive  years.  When  he  pardoned  himself  out  of  prison 
he  was  in  Nashville,  Tenn..  under  the  name  of  Henry  I'>.  Davis.  He  is  now 
supposed  to  be  dead. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  67 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

LEAVES  FROM  THE  HISTORY  CF  A  CHECKERED 
CAREER 

The    Remarkable   Confessions    of   One   of   the   Brightest, 

Brainiest  and  Smartest  Crooks  of  His  Day — How 

He  Pardoned  Himself  Out  of  Prison. 

"Naturally  I  shrink  from  publishing  my  sins  to  the  world. 
I  prefer  speaking  of  the  shortcomings  of  others.  Like  most 
of  the  human  family  I  can  see  the  mote  in  my  brother's 
eye,  but  am  blind  to  the  beam  in  my  own  eye.  That  I  am  a 
son  of  Belial  the  journals  of  the  country  have  not  for  the 
past  twenty-five  years  permitted  me  to  forget.  I  am  viewed 
as  all  that  is  bad — as  one  whom  it  were  folly  to  try  to  re- 
form— as  an  incorrigible,  morally  deformed.  If  I  am  not 
totally  depraved,  society  is  not  to  be  blamed.  I  rejoice  that 
I  am  far  better  than  society  knows,  that  I  know  God  and 
His  love  for  me,  and  that  in  my  inner  life  abides  a  faith 
that  assures  me  I  am  but  a  wanderer  from  my  Father's 
house,  to  which  I  shall  some  day  return  and  be  numbered 
among  the  ransomed. 

"Often  have  I  looked  heavenward  and  exclaimed:  'Oh, 
God,  I  thank  Thee  that  Thou  knowest  me,  and  that  Thou 
wilt  never  misjudge  me.  Thou  knowest  why  I  wandered 
from  the  path  of  righteousness,  and  when  I  shall  return 
thereto.  I  pray  for  the  grace  that  will  enable  me  to  return 
— that  will  so  fortify  me  that  I  may  depart  from  evil  and 
cleave  unto  Thee.' 

"I  have  never  doubted  that  God  will  eventually  grant 
my  prayer.    Were  it  not  for  the  faith  I  have  in  myself,  the 


63  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

merciless,  unchristian  condemnation  I  have  been  subjected 
to  for  the  past  quarter  century  would  have  sent  me  to 
hell  beyond  redemption !  Had  I  been  prayed  for  more  and 
denounced  less  by  those  who  are  continually  announcing 
their  belief  in  prayer,  and  the  power  of  God  to  save  to 
the  uttermost  all  sinners,  I  might  have  been  a  better  man 
than  I  am.  But  I  am  forgetting  that  I  was  not  asked  to 
write  a  sermon — that  the  request  was  for  some  of  the  most 
sensational  and  interesting  of  my  experiences — my  exploits. 
The  most  successful,  most  valuable  and  by  far  the  cleverest 
work  of  my  life  was  the  forging  of  the  documents  which 
induced  Governor  Buchanan,  of  Tennessee,  to  pardon  me, 
April  3d,  1891.  I  was  confined  at  Tracy  City,  Tenn.,  under 
a  six  years'  sentence.  It  is  one  of  the  branch  prisons  of 
the  state,  and  the  convicts  are  employed  in  the  coal  mines. 
I  was  put  to  work  in  'a  3  foot  vein, 'with  a  negro  convict — 
an  old  miner — for  boss.  The  most  arduous  labor  I  ever 
performed,  did  little  else  than  grumble  from  morning  till 
night,  and  shirked  all  I  dared.  At  night  I  laid  awake  trying 
to  evolve  a  plan  by  which  I  could  escape  from  my  wretched 
plight.  I  decided  that  I  would  try  to  forge  my  way  to  lib- 
erty. I  soon  prepared  to  execute  my  plan,  secured  legal 
cap  paper,  official  envelopes,  ink  and  some  good  pens.  In 
three  days  I  forged  a  petition  bearing  upward  of  150  sig- 
natures, writing  differing  in  each,  the  names  of  the  leading 
citizens  of  Tipton  county,  Tenn.,  the  county  in  which  I  was 
sentenced.  I  then  forged  a  letter  bearing  the  signature 
of  the  firm  of  attorneys  that  defended  me,  one  of  whom 
was  a  friend  of  the  Governor,  and  enclosed  it  with  the  pe- 
tition, and  had  them  mailed  in  Memphis,  remote  from 
where  I  was  confined,  320  miles.  I  then  forged  another 
letter  purporting  to  have  been  written  by  the  aforesaid 
attorney  to  John  Tipton,  representative  in  the  Legislature 
at  Nashville,  in  which  he  was  asked  to  see  Governor  Bu- 
chanan, and  to  urge  him  to  pardon  Henry  B.  Davis  (my 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  69 

alias).  All  this  was  done  in  March,  1891.  On  the  3rd  day 
of  April,  1891,  the  pardon  reached  the  warden  at  Tracy 
City.  I  received  the  glad  tidings  while  in  the  dining  room, 
writing  a  letter  for  a  fellow  prisoner.  Warden  Mottern 
walked  in  and  threw  a  letter  on  the  table  at  my  side,  re- 
marking as  he  did  so,  'Henry,  don't  let  that  take  your  breath 
away.'  I  did  not  take  up  the  letter,  but  continued  to  write. 
The  warden,  eager  that  I  should  read  the  letter,  repeat- 
ed his  remark.  I  then  felt  that  it  was  a  letter  bearing  very 
important  intelligence,  and  drew  it  from  the  envelope.  I 
have  never  forgotten  its  contents.    It  read: 

Henry  B.  Davis,  Esq., 

Tracy  City,  Tenn., 
Dear  Sir: 

I  send  herewith  your  pardon.  After  you  have  called  at 
the  Capitol  and  signed  certain  papers,  forwarded  to  the 
Governor  by  your  attorneys,  you  are  free  to  go  home  or 
elsewhere,  I  am  Yours  very  truly, 

W.  H.  Norman, 
Adj't-Gen'l  and  Private  Secretary  to  His  Excel- 
lency John  P.  Buchanan,  Governor. 

"As  they  could  not  clothe  me  that  day  nor  arrange  for  my 
transportation  to  Covington,  Tenn.,  I  remained  in  the  stock- 
ade until  4  a.  m.,  of  the  4th.  And  a  more  fearful  and  un- 
easy mortal  the  world  had  not.  I  made  my  way  to  Indian- 
apolis, and  did  not  until  I  reached  that  city  see  anything 
which  indicated  that  I  was  being  sought — that  officers  were 
after  me.  While  sitting  in  the  depot  a  man  passed  and 
re-passed  me,  closely  observing  me.  I  said  to  myself, 
'He  evidently  is  looking  for  me;  I  had  better  get  out  of 
this.'  I  went  out  of  the  north  door  as  he  passed  out  of  the 
south  door,  and  hastily  boarded  the  "White  Mail"  express 
on  the  P.  C.  C.  &  St.  L.  R.  R.,  without  one  cent  in  my 
pocket.  I  was  on  the  front  end  of  the  mail  car,  and  rode 
to  Denison,  Ohio,  unmolested — the  longest  ride  I  ever 
knew  anyone  to  make  'on  the  beat'  on  a  passenger  train. 


70  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

"In  August,  1901,  I  was  arrested  in  Jersey  City  for  forg- 
ing a  telegram.  Shortly  after  I  was  bound  over  to  the 
grand  jury  it  was  learned  that  I  had  been  sentenced  to 
six  years'  imprisonment  in  Tennessee,  and  a  letter  of  in- 
quiry was  sent  to  the  Governor,  who  quickly  notified  the 
Jersey  City  authorities  that  I  had  been  pardoned  because 
of  forged  documents  sent  to  him  by  some  person  unknown. 
A  certain  detective  then  went  to  Nashville,  called  on  the 
Governor,  and  said:  'Governor,  Edwin  Stoddard,  alias 
Henry  B.  Davis,  is  subject  to  your  order.  Do  you  want 
him,  and  what  is  the  reward?" 

The  good  Governor,  eternal  peace  and  happiness  be  his, 
slowly  rose  from  his  chair,  straightened  his  tall  form  and 
said:  'Do  I  want  Edwin  Stoddard,  alias  Henry  B.  Davis? 
No,  sir;  I  do  not  want  Edwin  Stoddard,  alias  Henry  B.  Da- 
vis. He  beat  me  very  cleverly,  and  is  altogether  too  bril- 
liant a  man  to  be  in  prison!  All  I  ask  of  Edwin  Stoddard 
alias  Henry  B.  Davis,  is  to  stay  out  of  the  State  of  Ten- 
nessee!   The  pardon  stands.    I  bid  you  good  day,  sir.' 

"How  the  small,  inhuman,  unfeeling  soul  of  the  detec- 
tive, who  for  two  hundred  dollars  was  eager  to  return  me 
to  a  loathsome  prison,  must  have  shrank  from  that  great, 
noble,  white-souled  Governor.  What  a  rebuke  the  good  Gov- 
ernor administered  to  the  mercenary,  unchristian  wretch ! 

"In  November,  1889,  while  journeying  from  Chicago  to 
St.  Louis,  in  a  parlor  car,  on  the  Chicago  &  Alton  R.  R.,  I 
entered  upon  what  resulted  in  one  of  the  most  interesting 
experiences  of  my  life.     A  gentleman  left  his  chair  and 

said  to  me:    'I  am  the  Rev. ,  of  Springfield, 

Mo.,  and  if  I  mistake  not,  you  are  the  Rev. , 

of  Detroit,'  (at  that  time  a  well  known  preacher).  At  once 
seeing  an  opportunity  for  amusing  myself,  I  said:  'You 
are  right;  I  am  pleased  to  form  your  acquaintance.'  After 
we  had  conversed  for  some  time  he  said,  'I  should  be 
pleased  to  have  you  accompany  me  to  Springfield  and  be- 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  71 

come  my  guest  and  to  occupy  my  pulpit  Sunday.'  To 
which,  after  some  hesitation,  I  consented.  He  had  a  very 
pleasant  home,  and  the  sweetest,  kindliest  consort  it  has 
ever  been  my  pleasure  to  meet.  They  could  not  do  enough 
for  my  comfort  and  pleasure.  Impostor  that  I  was,  their 
assiduous  attention  only  served  to  render  me  uncomfort- 
able. I  asked  a  blessing  at  each  meal,  and  read  the  Bible 
and  prayed  in  the  morning  and  evening.  But  the  thought 
of  the  two  sermons  I  was  expected  to  preach  Sunday  caused 
me  unspeakable  perturbation,  as  I  had  but  36  hours  in 
which  to  prepare  them.  I  was  tempted  to  flee  the  place 
and  let  the  good  pastor  think  what  he  pleased.  But  as  I 
had  never  in  the  course  of  my  wayward  career  proved  un- 
equal to  any  emergency  I  determined  to  face  the  rugged 
proposition  and  preach  as  he  had  requested.  Retiring  to 
my  room  with  a  Bible  and  several  sheets  of  paper  I  went 
to  agonizing  over  the  sermons.  For  the  morning  sermon  I 
took  for  my  text  the  verse  in  Genesis  (1 :  26)  where  God 
gives  man  dominion  over  all  living  creatures.  I  spoke 
from  notes  and  flatter  myself  that  I  did  fairly  well.  I  was 
warmly  congratulated  by  the  good  pastor  and  his  wife,  and 
introduced  at  the  close  of  the  services  to  a  number  of  the 
congregation. 

In  the  evening  I  preached  on  Faith,  and  from  notes.  I 
labored  to  be  very  original  and  succeeded.  I  recall  main- 
taining that  we  could  not  exercise  any  more  faith  than  God 
allotted  to  us,  that  since  he  was  'the  author  and  finisher  of 
our  faith,'  we  might  reasonably  hold  him  responsible  for 
our  lack  of  faith  provided  we  had  prayed  most  earnestly 
for  the  proper  faith — for  sufficient  faith.  I  also  maintain- 
ed that  it  were  possible  for  one  to  have  faith  sufficient  to 
secure  an  answer  to  a  prayer  that,  while  it  benefited  one 
might  be  harmful  to  many  others.  That  God  often  denied 
a  petitioner  even  when  he  had  exercised  the  required  faith 
because  God  saw  that  to  answer  the  prayer — to  bestow 


72  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

what  was  prayed  for,  would  work  harm  instead  of  good  to 
the  supplicant.  That  it  was  more  the  nature  of  what  we 
prayed  for  than  the  faith  we  evinced  that  influenced  the 
Almighty  to  a  decision.  I  spoke  of  the  assassination  of 
President  Garfield,  reminding  the  congregation  that  prayers 
were  ascending  to  God  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
that  many  of  the  petitioners  believed  that  God  would  spare 
his  life.  Yet  he  died.  What  conclusion  must  those  who 
prayed  for  Garfield's  recovery  reach  in  order  to  be  consist- 
ent? Could  it  be  other  than  that  the  Almighty  deemed  it 
best  to  remove  James  A.  Garfield  from  this  sphere  of 
action?  Therefore  faith  does  not  induce  God  to  answer  an 
unwise  prayer. 

A  child  four  years  of  age  lay  sick  and  at  death's  door. 
The  physician  decided  that  he  must  die.  The  mother 
agonized  in  prayer.  God  spared  his  life.  That  boy  grew 
to  manhood  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-eight  robbed  and 
murdered  his  grandfather  and  was  hung.  Did  faith  save 
the  boy  for  such  an  awful  crime,  and  death  on  the  gallows? 
If  so,  it  accomplished  an  awful  work!  Far  better  had  the 
boy  died  in  his  innocent  childhood!  Faith  should  behold 
not  merely  the  substance  of  things  hoped  for  but  should 
go  far  beyond  this  and  see  that  the  things  hoped  for  will 
permanently  and  soulfully  benefit  the  petitioner! 

"At  the  close  of  the  service  the  pastor  said  to  me,  'Your 
discourse  was  forceful  and  original,  and  stimulated  my 
mind  and  has  given  birth  to  thoughts  hitherto  unknown  to 
it.  You  interfered  somewhat  with  the  old  orthodox  line  of 
belief  but  have  nevertheless  done  us  much  good.  You 
have  quickened  and  driven  us  from  the  old  ruts  which  we 
have  followed  for  many  years.  I  believe  my  people  are 
very  much  pleased  with  the  sermon.' 

"The  next  day  I  was  taken  about  the  city  and  shown  the 
different  points  of  interest  and  introduced  to  a  number  of 
the  leading  citizens. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  73 

"To  this  day  I  think  the  worthy  pastor  and  his  noble  wife 

fully  believe  that  they  entertained  the  Rev. 

of  Detroit. 

"In  December,  1889,  I  was  arrested  400  miles  from  a 
city  where  I  had  obtained  $1,400.00  on  a  forged  draft. 
While  escaping,  I  changed  my  clothes,  and  had  my  mus- 
tache removed,  and  hair  dyed  a  jet  black.  When  arrested 
it  flashed  through  my  mind  as  quick  as  lightning,  'Feign 
deafness  and  dumbness,  and  that  you  can  neither  read  nor 
write.'  I  was  taken  back  to  the  city  where  I  had  cashed 
the  draft,  and  so  changed  was  my  appearance,  that  the 
cashier  was  in  doubt  as  to  my  identity,  but  they  placed  me 
in  jail  and  finally  succeeded  in  holding  me  for  the  grand 
jury.  For  sixty  days  I  was  closely  watched,  four  different 
men  were  placed  in  the  cell  with  me  and,  instructed  by  the 
police,  did  their  utmost  to  induce  me  to  talk  or  to  write, 
but  by  the  utmost  care  I  evaded  all  their  little  artifices  and 
cunning,  and  the  grand  jury  did  not  find  a  true  bill.  Thus 
did  I  obtain  my  liberty  after  maintaining  silence  for  two 
months  and  not  placing  pen  or  pencil  to  paper.  The  most 
trying  time  of  my  life,  but  I  never  regretted  playing  the 
part  inasmuch  as  it  saved  me  from  a  sentence  of  not  less 
than  ten  years! 

"That  I  sorrow  o'er  the  evil  I  have  done  is  to  be  be- 
lieved. I  have  often  wondered  why  I  have  had  such  a  way- 
ward career.  I  sincerely  desired  to  be  one  of  the  best  men 
in  the  world,  and  in  my  early  manhood  believed  that  I  was 
to  become  such  a  man.  I  am  well  nigh  a  fatalist.  What 
God  foresees  must  be  equivalent  to  a  law  that  cannot  be 
evaded.  He  foresaw  my  career.  I  could  not  do  other- 
wise than  I  have  done.  I  sometimes  so  reason.  I  am 
grateful  to  God  that  in  all  my  unrighteousness  I  never 
wholly  lost  my  belief  in  his  saving  grace  and  that  he  loved 
me;  that  there  was  a  glorious  reality  in  the  religion  of  our 
Saviour;  and  that  the  uplift  cf  fallen  men  snd  women  and 


74  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

their  leading  noble,  useful  lives  was  and  is  an  unanswer- 
able argument  in  support  of  his  gospel  of  love,  mercy  and 
helpfulness.  That  I  may  become  a  humble,  earnest  fol- 
lower of  him  who  made  known  God  the  Father  unto  men, 
is  my  earnest  prayer.  I  am  soul  weary  of  a  life  of  sin.  I 
have  had  an  unspeakably  wretched  life  for  the  past  twenty- 
eight  years.  I  mean  to  get  away  from  my  old  wayward 
sinful  self — out  of  self  and  into  Christ!  I  am  glad  that  I 
can  truthfully  say,  that  there  has  never  been  a  period  in  my 
life  when  I  did  not  love  Christ  and  venerate  God,  never  a 
time  since  I  was  twelve  years  of  age  that  I  did  not  at  some 
hour  in  the  day  fix  my  mind  on  God  and  ask  him  for  his 
mercy  and  guidance.  But  for  all  this  I  have  had  a  very 
checkered  career.  Still  I  believe  he  heard  my  prayer  and 
will  yet  enable  me  to  lead  a  righteous  life. 

"If  I  can  say  anything  which  will  induce  any  wayward 
fellow  creature  to  depart  from  evil  and  walk  Godward — 
heavenward,  I  should  be  most  happy  to  do  so.  God's 
mercy  is  for  all.  He  never  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  prayer 
for  mercy.  Nothing  so  beautiful  to  the  angels  as  a  sinner 
on  his  knees  imploring  the  mercy  of  the  merciful  and 
loving  God! 

"I  have  written  the  foregoing  for  the  Rev.  J.  J.  Munro, 
Chaplain  of  the  City  Prison,  New  York  City.  Interested 
for  my  spiritual  welfare  he  won  my  confidence  and  grati- 
tude by  his  sincerity  and  the  spirit  of  helpfulness  that 
dominates  him.  He  is  doing  a  noble  work  at  the  prison 
and  cannot  be  too  highly  commended,  and  the  good  people 
of  the  city  should  earnestly  and  generously  aid  him  that  he 
may  be  enabled  to  extend  his  noble,  Christian  work  in  be- 
half of  the  fallen  and  the  neglected  who,  if  properly  be- 
friended, may  be  restored  to  honest  and  useful  lives. 

"E.  S.  S." 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  75 


CHAPTER  IX. 

IKE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  A  CROOK 
How  A  Young  Life  Was  Wrecked 

The  writer  of  the  following  sketch  received  a  sentence 
of  twenty-three  years  imprisonment.  He  is  a  bright  and 
brainy  criminal.  It  is  the  general  opinion  that  had  he  used 
his  talents  and  business  sagacity  along  honest  lines  he 
would  have  been  a  different  man  to-day.  He  has  brains 
in  abundance,  but  he  uses  them  wrongly.  Let  him  tell  his 
own  story. 

"My  father  and  mother  as  well  as  all  my  relatives  on 
both  sides  of  the  family  were  exceptionally  well  connected 
and  highly  respected  in  the  community.  My  father  in  his 
best  days  had  plenty  of  money.  My  earliest  recollection  of 
my  father  was  as  a  railroad  manager,  always  full  of  busi- 
ness— seldom  at  home  except  for  meals  or  on  Sundays. 
After  the  New  England  road  changed  hands  and  became 
part  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hartford,  he  lost  his 
job.  This  was  a  calamity  to  my  father  as  it  compelled  him 
to  begin  over  again,  which  at  his  time  of  life  was  a  very 
serious  task.  I  was  then  ten  years  of  age,  and  although 
unable  to  take  in  the  situation  fully,  I  knew  something  was 
wrong. 

"Without  flattery  I  wish  to  say  I  was  not  a  bad  boy  at  this 
age.  I  attended  school  and  like  other  boys,  I  cut  up  once 
in  a  while,  but  when  my  teacher  sent  word  home  to  my 
mother  recounting  my  pranks,  she  always  punished  me 
soundly  for  my  conduct.  After  leaving  the  railroad  com- 
pany, my  father  went  into  a  little  town  near  New  Haven, 


76  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

where  he  sunk  sixty  thousand  dollars  in  what  afterwards 
proved  to  be  an  unprofitable  business.  When  I  was  four- 
teen years  of  age  my  grandfather  died  and  left  my  mother 
ten  thousand  dollars.  This  money  came  like  a  god-send. 
Again  my  father  started  in  business.  This  time  it  was 
keeping  a  hotel.  It  was  not  so  successful  as  we  had  ex- 
pected, but  my  father  made  a  living  out  of  it.  When  I 
was  fifteen  years  old  I  left  school  and  for  a  whole  year 
simply  spent  my  time  loafing.  I  would  not  work.  I  mixed 
in  with  all  kinds  of  company — mostly  bad.  I  listened  to 
men  as  they  told  how  to  commit  crime  and  escape  punish- 
ment. At  first  my  conscience  would  scourge  me  for  allow- 
ing myself  to  be  in  such  company,  but  I  would  dismiss  my 
fears  by  saying,  There  is  no  harm  in  that  as  long  as  a  fel- 
low does  not  get  caught.'  I  was  yet  of  tender  years,  al- 
though I  felt  I  was  at  heart  a  degenerate.  I  can  see  now 
where  I  made  the  great  mistake  of  my  life. 

"I  can  see  now  that  my  mother  was  far  too  lenient  with 
me,  and  should  have  punished  me  often  for  my  mean  ways, 
when  she  only  admonished  me  with  kind  words.  If  I  had 
known  that  I  was  to  be  punished  for  many  of  my  youthful 
pranks,  I  certainly  would  not  have  repeated  them.  But  I 
knew  that  I  could  impose  on  mother  and  make  her  prevent 
father  from  punishing  me  even  when  I  deserved  it.  This 
made  me  reckless  and  daring,  so  I  did  not  care  what  I  did 
as  long  as  I  was  not  to  be  punished.  I  could  steal  a  few 
pennies  from  my  mother's  wallet,  smash  a  pane  of  glass  in 
anger,  and  steal  the  horse  from  the  barn  against  my 
father's  will,  and  yet  be  immune  from  punishment.  All 
this  tended  to  make  my  downward  career  swift  and  sure. 

"On  my  bed  at  night  I  often  thought  of  my  mad  and 
foolish  ways.  I  knew  I  was  doing  wrong — sinning  against 
light  and  deceiving  my  kind-hearted  mother.  It  was  not 
kindness  I  needed  as  much  as  a  firm  hand  over  me.  I  con- 
fess  I   suffered   greatly    from   moral   struggles   within.     I 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  77 

came  from  a  good  New  England  ancestry.  My  relatives 
were  all  respectable  people.  Why  should  I  do  anything 
that  would  bring  disgrace  upon  my  family?  But  I  would 
not  work.  I  preferred  to  be  an  indolent  loafer  than  an 
industrious  young  man.  Then  the  inward  struggles  would 
return  to  me  again.  I  fought  them  to  the  death,  continued 
to  trample  God's  laws  under  my  feet  and  went  on  to  do  my 
own  will. 

"I  believe  now  that  my  unrestrained  pranks  led  to  my 
final  criminality.  I  was  now  seventeen  years  of  age.  I 
was  not  a  gambler,  nor  was  I  a  drunkard  or  profane.  But 
I  positively  refused  to  work.  I  spent  my  days  loafing 
around  the  village  in  all  kinds  of  company,  getting  trained 
for  a  downward  career. 

One  day  my  father  took  me  aside  and  said,  'George,  you 
must  go  to  work  at  once  or  leave  this  house.'  Several 
words  passed  between  us  that  had  better  not  been  said.  I 
refused  to  go  to  work,  and  left  the  house  the  next  day.  I 
stayed  around  the  village  for  several  days,  living  with 
friends.  I  soon  found  myself  hard  up.  Like  the  man 
mentioned  in  the  Gospel,  I  refused  to  dig,  and  to  beg  I  was 
ashamed.  I  said  to  myself,  I  must  get  some  money  some- 
where, I  cannot  stand  this  any  longer.  I  had  no  wish  to  be 
a  criminal  and  yet  I  must  get  money  without  working 
for  it.  It  was  summer  time.  I  saw  many  houses  empty, 
the  Devil  said,  'This  is  your  chance.'  The  people  had 
gone  to  the  seaside  and  the  mountains.  I  selected  a  house 
where  I  thought  there  was  plunder  and  that  night  burglar- 
ized it.  This  gave  me  plenty  of  ready  money.  I  followed 
this  with  a  number  of  more  burglaries.  After  a  time  this 
kind  of  crime  became  my  second  nature.  Then  I  became 
reckless  and  soon  after  was  arrested,  convicted  and  sent  to 
Wethersfield  State  Prison  for  two  years  and  two  months. 

"After  I  had  reached  State's  Prison  and  had  donned  the 
convict's  garb,  I  was  totally  ashamed  of  myself,  not  to  say 


78  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

mortified.  I  made  many  resolutions  and  even  cried  over 
my  worthless  life,  but  was  no  better  inwardly  or  outwardly. 
The  fact  is  my  heart  was  evil  continually.  I  was  twenty 
years  of  age  when  I  left  prison.  I  was  not  reformed,  nor 
had  I  any  desire  for  inward  reformation.  My  heart  was 
still  on  the  old  life.  During  my  two  years  of  enforced 
servitude  I  had  learned  the  bakery  business.  I  thought 
when  I  got  out,  if  all  things  failed,  I  could  earn  a  living  by 
it.  After  my  discharge  I  went  to  a  place  called  Long 
B in  a  neighboring  state.  Here  I  found  employ- 
ment in  a  bakery  which  was  kept  by  a  widow  woman.  I 
worked  so  faithfully  for  her  that  after  a  few  months  she 
made  me  her  manager.  I  now  made  up  my  mind  to  do 
what  was  right,  so  I  shunned  crooked  companions.  Many 
wealthy  people  lived  on  the  Beach,  where  they  had  sum- 
mer homes.  As  many  burglaries  had  been  committed  in 
the  neighborhood,  I  was  appointed  special  watchman.  I 
served  in  this  capacity  for  two  years,  during  which  time  I 
gave  entire  satisfaction  to  all  concerned. 

"After  a  few  years  of  sweet  liberty,  I  was  in  prison 
again.  This  time,  I  assure  you,  it  was  by  mere  accident, 
as  I  had  no  intention  of  being  back  again  in  crime.  While 
playing  with  a  pistol,  I  accidentally  shot  a  girl.  I  was  con- 
victed of  criminal  carelessness,  and  was  sent  to  prison  for 
two  years — simply  because  I  was  an  old  offender. 

'T  had  been  a  free  man  several  years.  I  never  expected 
to  go  to  prison  again.  This  sentence  was  a  surprise  to  me 
and  everybody  else.  It  was  unlooked  for.  I  was  mad  with 
myself.  In  prison  I  became  sullen  and  brooded  over  my 
trials.  My  wife  had  abandoned  me.  Before  I  left  prison 
I  wrote  asking  her  to  secure  a  divorce  from  me.  I  assured 
her  I  would  not  oppose  it. 

"After  leaving  prison,  I  came  to  New  York,  where  I 
operated  extensively  as  a  scientific  burglar.  In  my  last 
prison  experience,  I  met  some  expert  crooks  who  willingly 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  79 

perfected  my  criminal  education.  I  believe  the  curse  of 
our  prisons  to-day  is  the  lack  of  segregation.  I  am  satis- 
fied nearly  all  the  prisons  are  schools  of  crime. 

"As  long  as  the  authorities  mix  young  beginners  with 
men  old  in  crime,  so  long  will  our  prisons  be  seminaries  of 
vice  of  the  darkest  and  vilest  character. 

"With  my  new  ideas  I  found  New  York  a  profitable  field 
for  criminal  enterprise,  but  was  not  confined  to  this  place 
alone.  I  visited  a  dozen  cities  where  I  worked  as  a  crim- 
inal. In  New  York  City  alone,  I  managed  to  perform  sixty- 
five  burglaries  in  a  brief  space  of  six  months.  In  some  of 
them  I  netted  as  much  as  $12,000.  The  police  could  not 
get  'the  drop  on  me,'  but  were  pleased  to  call  me  a 
Twentieth  Century  up-to-date  Second  Story  Man.'  I 
eluded  them  for  three  years.  All  this  time  I  took  great 
chances.  My  plans  were  so  perfect  that  I  never  believed 
I  could  be  detected. 

"My  methods  were  to  hire  a  room  or  two  in  a  respect- 
able part  of  the  city — usually  on  the  top  floor — go  up  on 
the  roof  through  the  scuttle  at  night  when  all  were  in  bed, 
and  return  with  my  plunder  before  morning.  I  never 
robbed  the  house  in  which  I  lived,  nor  any  place  near  to  it. 
I  usually  crossed  over  a  dozen  houses.  If  one  house  was 
ten  or  twenty  feet  higher  than  another,  I  overcame  the 
difficulty  by  lassooing  the  chimney  with  my  silk  ladder. 
Then  I  let  myself  down  into  any  window  I  wished  to  enter. 
I  overcame  all  difficulties.  I  always  carried  a  pair  of  pis- 
tols ready  for  any  emergency,  a  bull's-eye  lantern  and  a  set 
of  burglar  tools  in  a  leather  case  in  my  hip  pocket. 

"In  July  I  committed  six  burglaries  on  one  street  near 
Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  and  made  a  big  haul  each  time. 
The  gold  and  silver  heirlooms  I  could  not  sell  I  melted  and 
sold  for  their  intrinsic  value. 

"I  was  so  successful  in  all  my  operations  as  a  burglar 
that  I  became  careless.     I  had  laid  my  plans  so  carefully 


80  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

that  I  did  not  think  I  could  be  found  out.  I  burglarized 
the  house  of  a  well  known  millionaire.  He  afterwards 
offered  a  reward  of  a  hundred  dollars  for  my  detection,  for 
I  had  taken  away  all  his  valuable  bric-a-brac.  A  month 
or  two  afterwards  I  again  hired  rooms  in  the  same  neigh- 
borhood and  went  over  the  old  grounds.  This  was  the 
mistake  of  my  life,  as  they  were  on  the  outlook  for  'my 
kind.'  I  wanted  more  money  and  took  chances.  I  became 
reckless  in  my  methods.  The  night  I  was  caught  I  was 
coming  up  the  fire-escape  with  a  pillow  slip  of  silverware 
on  my  back.  A  woman  servant  heard  me,  came  to  the 
window  and  gave  the  alarm.  I  ran  to  the  roof  with  haste 
and  threw  away  my  booty.  I  was  cornered  before  I  knew 
it.  Three  cops  met  me  with  loaded  guns;  when  I  was  shot 
I  surrendered." 

Brooks  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  dangerous 
men  that  ever  followed  the  profession,  so  he  was  charac- 
terized on  the  day  the  Judge  sentenced  him  to  twenty-three 
years  imprisonment.  Before  passing  sentence,  the  Judge 
said,  "Brooks,  I  doubt  if  there  was  ever  a  criminal  in  this 
city  like  you.  Cold,  calculating,  scientific,  systematic,  you 
have  pursued  your  criminal  career  like  a  mechanic  without 
interruption,  for  years.  In  the  course  of  a  few  months  you 
have  committed  thirty-nine  burglaries  and  stole  more  than 
$65,000  worth  of  property." 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  81 


CHAPTER  X. 

WANDERING  STARS  AND  BUZZARDS  OF  THE  TOMBS 

Thrilling  Experiences 

What  a  field  for  the  study  of  human  nature  the  careful 
observer  finds  in  the  Tombs  Prison!  I  do  not  know  of  any 
other  place  on  this  continent  where  such  a  display  of  types 
may  be  found  as  here;  not  only  every  nation,  language  and 
color  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  but  the  variety  is  kaleidos- 
copic and  leaves  on  you  a  deep  impress.  The  moment  you 
see  a  real  crook  his  personality  stamps  you  at  once  for 
good  or  evil — rather  for  evil;  nor  can  you  help  yielding  to 
such  impressions.  But  then  the  face  is  the  expression  of 
the  individual  and  reveals  to  some  extent  the  character  of 
the  inner  man.  Although  there  are  many  exceptions  to 
the  general  rule,  these  are  few  and  far  between.  I  find 
that  backsliders  in  crime  after  a  few  years  show  a  vitiated 
and  debased  brutality  in  their  physiognomy. 

During  the  ten  years  that  I  have  been  connected  with  the 
Tombs  Prison,  I  have  met  a  great  many  brilliant  men  who 
were  at  heart  dyed-in-the-wool  crooks  and  bent  on  a  crim- 
inal career.  I  do  not  care  to  call  a  man  a  criminal  if  I  can 
help  it,  but  how  can  one  avoid  it  when  called  upon  to  de- 
scribe a  modern  social  anarchist  but  use  such  terms  as  will 
best  describe  the  one  who  lives  on  crime. 

It  is  a  most  difficult  thing  to  know  just  what  to  do  with 
such  people;  but  unless  they  are  reached  by  the  milk  of 
human  kindness  and  the  love  of  God  there  is  little  hope 
for  them.  I  have  found  by  observation  and  experience 
that  the  average  recidivist  is  insane  on  criminal  matters, 


82  NEW    YORK    TOMBS 

and  is  besides  a  notorious  liar!  Nor  is  it  best  to  believe 
a  word  of  what  he  says,  unless  it  is  supported  by  some  other 
testimony.  The  fact  is,  he  will  not  tell  the  truth  even 
though  in  the  end  it  might  do  him  vastly  more  good  than  a 
He.  And  any  man  who  denies  the  truthfulness  of  total 
depravity  needs  only  visit  a  prison  and  hear  the  confessions 
of  crooks  and  then  seek  their  corroboration,  and  it  will  not 
be  long  before  he  will  be  compelled  to  abandon  his  foolish 
denials. 

I  find  that  in  youthful  degenerates  the  face  holds  a  pleas- 
ant expression  sometimes  for  years,  but  then  the  long  con- 
finement behind  the  bars  reveals  a  white  pallor  and  dull 
sunken  eyes  that  cannot  be  mistaken ;  on  these  crime  seems 
to  have  written  itself  indelibly! 

Young  sixteen-year-old  Stewart,  who  was  sentenced  to 
twenty  years  in  Sing  Sing  for  killing  a  boy  his  own  age  on 
Randall's  Island,  whose  facial  lineaments  I  often  watched 
and  studied,  had  a  most  attractive  physiognomy.  No  one 
could  have  believed  from  his  looks  that  he  was  a  criminal, 
but  how  long  he  can  retain  these  looks  is  a  matter  of  con- 
jecture. 

Our  prisons  are  full  of  young  buzzards  who  need  to  be 
watched  continually.  These  boys  are  cunning,  sly  and 
treacherous.  When  you  see  them  coming  be  sure  and  give 
them  a  wide  berth.  Do  not  believe  what  they  tell  you, 
even  if  they  swear  on  a  monument  of  Bibles.  Most  of 
them  are  in  the  business  to  lie  and  they  know  how  to  at- 
tend to  their  own  business! 

The  Untruthful  Crook 

Nor  can  you  rely  on  any  of  their  promises.  If  they 
speak  to  you  sweet  words  you  will  find  that  they  have  the 
poison  of  asps  under  the  tongue.  They  are  born  buzzards 
and  can  no  more  change  their  ravenous  nature  than  a 
leopard  his  spots. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  83 

One  of  the  earliest  buzzard  freaks  I  knew  was  a  boy 
named  Dietz,  who  was  several  times  in  the  Tombs  for  mis- 
demeanors before  he  was  finally  sent  to  Elmira  for  a 
felony.  I  found  Dietz  to  be  one  of  the  most  expert  and 
finished  liars  ever  I  met.  It  was  no  trouble  for  him  to  lie 
in  three  languages!  It  seems  that  he  could  hardly  make  a 
statement  of  any  kind,  without  crowding  into  it  a  few  lies. 
He  had  a  way  of  his  own  by  which  he  could  palm  off  on  an 
unsuspecting  missionary  a  harrowing  tale  of  persecution 
that  would  bring  tears  to  the  eyes  and  his  tales  were  so 
well  arranged  that  all  would  believe  them. 

For  daring  criminality  he  could  give  points  to  Western 
bandits  and  shame  them  in  the  end.  A  car  load  of  such 
characters  dumped  on  a  peaceful  city  of  fifty  thousand 
people  would  disrupt  it  in  a  week.  Dietz  gloated  on  blood 
and  thunder  yarns  of  the  wild  and  woolly  West,  most  of 
the  time  and  was  unhappy  unless  he  was  draping  demons 
from  the  cesspool  of  his  soul. 

When  I  meet  a  chronic  liar  I  readily  conclude — no  mat- 
ter what  his  age  may  be,  that  the  bottom  has  dropped  out  of 
his  character.  The  liar  is  the  best  evidence  of  total  de- 
pravity, and  this  particular  characteristic  of  the  individual 
cannot  long  be  hid. 

The  second  time  Dietz  was  an  inmate  of  the  Boys'  Pris- 
on I  remember  how  I  raced  all  over  the  city  on  a  wild  goose 
chase  on  one  of  his  lies,  not  knowing  at  the  time  that  his 
stcry  was  a  fabrication  from  A  to  Z.  I  found  out  by  mere 
accident  that  his  brother,  who  was  a  clerk  in  a  large  ship- 
ping firm  in  the  city,  had  aided  him  out  of  his  first  scrape, 
but  refused  the  second  time  to  have  anything  more  to  do 
with  him.  He  knew  this  and  took  pains  to  conceal  the 
fact  that  after  many  chances  to  do  the  square  thing  his 
brother  considered  him  "no  good."  His  wanton  deeds 
and  prodigality  he  considered  virtues  and  when  he  recited 
them  to  those  who  would  listen  to  him  he  was  in  smiles. 


84  NEW    YORK    TOMBS 

The  third  time  he  was  in  the  Boys'  Prison  was  for  a 
felony.  He  came  in  under  an  assumed  name.  He  did 
not  call  upon  me  for  help  this  time  as  I  knew  his  record 
too  well.  But  he  had  some  women  to  work  for  him  till 
they  found  out  that  his  stories  were  only  lies  from  start  to 
finish,  after  which  they  gave  him  up.  He  was  finally  sent 
to  Elmira  Reformatory,  but  what  became  of  him  afterwards 
I  have  never  learned. 

It  seems  as  natural  for  criminals  to  tell  lies  as  to  breathe, 
when  in  most  cases  the  truth  would  serve  to  better  purpose. 

Some  time  ago  a  young  Russian  named  C was  before 

Judge  Cowing  for  stealing  a  diamond  pin.  The  crime  was 
committed  in  the  Thalia  Theatre  on  the  Bowery.  While 
his  pedigree  was  taken  in  General  Sessions  he  was  asked 
if  he  had  ever  been  arrested  before  and,  as  usual,  his  reply 
was  a  lie.  When  he  was  sentenced  to  Elmira  Reformatory 
he  replied  to  the  Court,  "Judge,  would  rather  go  to  hell 
than  to  Elmira."  After  he  came  back  to  the  Tombs  I  asked 
him  why  he  hated  to  go  to  Elmira  so  much.  He  then  told 
me  that  he  had  been  there  already  while  Superintendent 
Brockway  was  in  charge.  I  then  made  an  investigation 
and  found  the  lawyer  that  had  defended  him  at  his  first 
trial,  who  after  he  had  been  in  the  Reformatory  two  years 
and  a  half  had  secured  a  pardon  for  him  so  that  he  might 
return  to  Russia,  which  he  did.  He  joined  the  Russian 
Army,  but  is  said  to  have  deserted  soon  after  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  in  the  Far  East.  In  less  than  two  months 
after  reaching  New  York  he  committed  another  crime  and 
sought  to  cover  it  with  a  lie. 

This  man's  career  shows  him  to  be  nothing  less  than  a 
human  buzzard.  Criminality  is  written  on  his  counte- 
nance, which,  to  say  the  least,  is  forbidding.  After  he  was 
sent  to  Elmira  Reformatory  he  was  soon  after  transferred 
to  Auburn  Prison,  where  he  will  have  an  opportunity  to 
serve  his  full  sentence  of  five  years. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  85 

Another  criminal  of  the  Buzzard  species  was  Chump  of 
Harlem.  He  was  only  twenty-six  years  of  age,  the  son  of 
a  sergeant  of  police.  He  is  so  indolent  that  he  prefers  to 
beg  or  steal  rather  than  earn  an  honest  living.  Those  that 
know  him  best  call  him  "  a  gin-mill  sucker,"  as  he  spends 
most  of  his  time  there  for  the  "drinks"  he  can  pick  up  for 
nothing.  He  was  arrested  in  midwinter  for  stealing  a  for- 
ty-dollar chair  from  a  furniture  store  in  the  upper  part  of 
the  city.  Like  most  of  his  kind,  Chump  said  he  was  inno- 
cent and  that  it  was  the  first  time  he  was  ever  arrested.  As 
he  gave  a  fictitious  name  and  wrong  address  it  was  impos- 
sible to  trace  his  record.  Under  the  impression  that  he 
was  a  first  offender,  he  was  allowed  a  plea  of  petit  larceny. 
When  he  came  up  before  Recorder  Goff  he  found  his 
match.  Some  person  must  have  given  the  Court  an  "ink- 
ling" of  Chump's  record.  When  he  stood  at  the  bar  of 
General  Sessions  the  Recorder  had  him  sworn  on  the  Bible 
so  that  he  might  tell  the  truth.  Then  the  tug  of  war  be- 
gan. "Chump,"  said  the  Recorder,  "Tell  the  truth,  were 
you  ever  convicted  before?"  Chump  hesitated.  There 
was  a  painful  silence  in  the  room.  "Now  tell  me,"  said 
Judge  Goff,  "How  many  times  were  you  sent  away  in  your 
life?  Were  you  ever  in  the  penitentiary?"  said  the  Rec- 
order. "Yes,"  said  Chump,  "once."  "Is  that  all,"  said  the 
Recorder;  "Now  tell  the  truth."  "No,"  said  he,  "Twice." 
"Any  other  times?"  He  hesitated  again.  It  seems  that 
this  young  vagabond  had  no  less  than  six  convictions  stand- 
ing against  him  prior  to  this  time.  While  he  was  under  the 
Recorder's  scrutiny  he  must  have  suffered  torture  of  con- 
science. But  his  real  character  was  brought  out  which 
showed  him  to  be  an  Al  degenerate  and  a  notorious  liar. 
Before  he  started  for  the  penitentiary  I  asked  him  why  he 
had  lied  by  saying  that  he  had  never  been  up  before.  He 
coolly  replied,  "Well,  you  know  if  I  had  told  the  truth  no- 
body would  have  done  anything  for  me." 


86  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

Dark  Records 

In  the  following  sketch  I  have  selected  crooks  of  ma- 
turer  years.  They  are  types  of  modern  brainy  criminals. 
I  have  said  nothing  of  Orrin  Skinner,  the  well  read  Illinois 
lawyer  who  became  a  jailbird  in  early  life  and  afterwards 
died  in  Auburn  prison,  nor  of  Rue  Ralley,  the  scholarly 
criminal  who  was  master  of  several  languages;  nor  of 
other  well  known  crooks  who  got  away  with  millions  of 
dollars  from  several  New  York  banks.  I  have  said  nothing 
of  "Jimmie"  Hope,  who  robbed  the  Bleecker  Street  Bank 
of  three  million  dollars,  and  was  called  the  Prince  of  Safe 
Crackers  and  who  at  one  time  was  said  to  be  worth  a  big 
fortune,  the  "pickings"  of  several  bank  burglaries;  nor  of 
the  young  crook  who  went  boldly  to  a  Broadway  Bank  at 
the  noon  hour  and  with  only  an  empty  soap  box  under  his 
feet,  leaned  over  the  cashier's  cage  and  got  away  with 
$10,000.  But  the  city  is  full  of  such  bold  crooks  who 
simply  wait  their  chances. 

It  must  be  an  awful  insult  to  the  Almighty,  after  he  had 
so  liberally  endowed  such  people,  some  of  them  with  the 
intellect  of  a  Webster  or  a  Gladstone,  for  them  to  use 
their  powers  only  to  do  evil  and  refuse  to  do  good.  But 
this  is  precisely  what  a  habitual  criminal  makes  up  his 
mind  to  do  when  he  continues  in  wrongdoing  against  the 
wishes  of  his  best  friends. 

A  middle-aged  criminal  who  has  made  a  dark  record  as  a 
thief  and  liar  since  he  was  ten  years  old  was  taken  to  the 
prison  desk  in  my  presence  to  give  his  pedigree,  as  is  the 
custom  with  all  who  are  committed  by  the  Magistrate  to 
await  trial.  When  asked  his  name,  age  and  business,  he 
replied,  "I  am  forty-five  years  of  age.  I  have  no  home  but 
the  Penitentiary  and  a  ten-cent  Bowery  lodging  house 
which  I  use  when  I  am  not  in  prison.  I  am  a  thief  by  pro- 
fession and  have  followed  that  business  nearly  all  my  life. 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  87 

As  I  positively  refuse  to  work  I  mean  to  be  a  thief  till  I 
die,  and  will  compel  the  State  to  support  me." 

There  are  hundreds  of  this  class  possessing  the  same 
delusion  in  all  our  cities,  who  do  nothing  but  steal  for  a 
living  and  then  cover  their  evil  conduct  by  lies.  They  are 
insanely  depraved  and  should  be  locked  up  permanently, 
as  they  are  of  no  use  to  anybody.  They  are  social  para- 
sites and  enemies  of  the  race. 

And  yet  I  am  forced  to  say  that  some  of  the  brightest 
and  brainiest  of  men  that  I  ever  knew  in  their  sober  mo- 
ments, were  crooks.  I  have  tried  to  study  them  to  see  how 
and  where  they  differ  from  other  men — and  that  is  no 
ordinary  task.  Whether  I  succeeded  or  not  remains  to  be 
seen.  In  some  cases,  after  many  patient  interviews  I  was 
able  to  draw  them  out  of  the  dark  and  gloomy  past,  where 
I  could  read  their  character  in  its  true  light.  Although 
many  of  this  class  are  exceedingly  interesting  as  conver- 
sationalists and  unusually  intelligent  on  the  great  questions 
of  the  day,  I  find  they  are  never  willing  to  disclose  their 
identity  or  reveal  their  inner  life.  A  crook  never  gives 
his  right  name  when  placed  under  arrest — always  an  alias. 
His  deeds  are  done  in  darkness. 

One  of  the  most  forbidding  faces  ever  I  saw  in  my  life 

was  that  of  Terry  R who  died  in  the  New  York 

Penitentiary  a  few  years  ago.  He  was  a  hardened  charac- 
ter. During  his  life  he  had  eleven  convictions  for  crime 
recorded  against  him,  extending  over  twenty-five  years.  I 
carefully  observed  that  during  his  last  years  he  became 
sullen,  revengeful,  despondent  and  suspicious  of  every- 
body. Terry  was  a  living  example  of  that  terse  old  Scrip- 
ture passage,  "The  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard." 

Speaking  of  lies,  which  are  the  ordinary  stock  in  trade 
of  all  criminals,  reminds  me  of  Frank  McKenna's  experi- 
ence. Some  years  ago  he  was  sent  to  the  House  of  Refuge 
for  a  year.     That  was  before  the  principle  of  the  indefinite 


88  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

sentence  was  applied  to  such  institutions.  A  few  days 
after  his  discharge  he  committed  a  crime  similar  to  the 
one  for  which  he  had  been  originally  sent  away,  viz.,  hold- 
ing up  a  child  on  the  street  and  taking  away  her  wallet. 
For  this  second  offense  he  was  in  due  season  indicted; 
when  he  was  taken  to  Part  I,  General  Sessions,  Recorder 
Smyth  asked  if  he  had  ever  been  in  the  House  of  Refuge; 
he  replied  in  the  negative.  "Well,  then,"  said  the  Rec- 
order, "I  will  send  you  there  for  a  year."  On  the  day 
following  he  was  taken  to  the  House  of  Refuge  but  they 
refused  to  receive  him  as  he  had  been  an  inmate  of  the 
institution  and  was  only  discharged  a  few  weeks  before. 
When  he  came  before  Recorder  Smyth  the  following  Tues- 
day, he  asked  him  if  he  really  meant  to  have  told  him  a 
lie  on  the  preceding  Friday,  when  he  sentenced  him; 
without  a  moment's  hesitation  he  said  "Yes.  "Then"  said 
the  genial  Recorder,  "for  this  lie  which  you  have  told  me, 
/  will  give  you  four  years  imprisonment  and  for  the  crime 
charged  against  you  in  the  indictment  one  year"  Since 
then  McKenna  has  served  several  sentences  for  crime. 
He  is  a  bad  crook. 

Before  he  left  the  Penitentiary  the  last  time,  a  well 
known  missionary  became  interested  in  him.  This  gentle- 
man secured  for  him  a  suit  of  clothes  and  gave  him  a  few 
dollars  to  pay  for  meals  and  lodgings  for  a  few  days. 
Since  then  he  has  entirely  disappeared  as  if  the  earth  had 
swallowed  him.     But  where  he  has  gone  no  one  knows. 

Another  well  known  character,  whose  career  goes  back 
some  years,  was  Captain  Jack  of  the  Cuban  Army.  The 
Captain  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  was  a  well  educated 
young  man  inclined  to  adventure;  he  had  been  in  Cuba 
several  years  fighting  the  Spaniards  under  Gomez.  After 
the  blowing  up  of  the  Maine  and  the  United  States  had 
occupied  Havana,  Jack  returned  to  New  York  on  one  of  the 
transports.     He  had  in  his  possession  four  or  five  hundred 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  89 

dollars  besides  a  railroad  ticket  to  his  home  in  the  South. 
While  wandering  along  West  Street,  waiting  for  the  de- 
parture of  the  Pennsylvania  train,  he  was  inveigled  into  a 
disorderly  house  where  he  lost  all  his  money  and  valuables. 
When  the  Captain  came  to  himself  and  missed  his  property 
he  made  a  demand  on  the  saloon  keeper  for  its  return. 
The  saloon  occupied  the  front  of  the  building  and  the  dis- 
orderly house  the  rear.  When  he  asked  for  his  money 
there  was  some  loud  talk  in  the  place  and  as  a  result  Cap- 
tain Jack  was  "fired."  As  soon  as  he  reached  the  sidewalk 
he  was  arrested  and  taken  to  the  Church  Street  Station 
House.  In  the  Centre  Street  Police  Court  next  day  after 
hearing  the  policeman's  version  of  the  trouble,  the  Magis- 
trate fined  him  five  dollars.  Up  till  this  time  Captain  Jack 
had  nothing  to  say  by  way  of  explanation  of  his  side  of  the 
case.  When  he  returned  to  the  Tombs  he  told  me  his 
story  as  he  was  mourning  over  his  loss.  He  was  grieved 
over  the  shameful  treatment  he  received,  as  he  was  only 
put  under  arrest  when  he  demanded  the  return  of  his  prop- 
erty. I  went  over  to  the  Police  Court  and  laid  the  facts  in 
the  case  before  Judge  Flammer  who  had  sentenced  Jack, 
but  had  not  known  anything  of  his  loss.  At  the  suggestion 
of  the  Magistrate  I  communicated  with  the  Second  Precinct 
police  and  asked  why  Captain  Jack  was  arrested  while  the 
thieves  that  stole  his  money  went  scot  free.  Captain 
Westervelt  put  Detective  Mooney  on  the  case,  but  nothing 
came  of  it.  The  police  kept  Jack  in  a  down  town  hotel  for 
a  few  days  and  then  raised  money  among  themselves  to 
buy  a  railroad  ticket  and  sent  him  home  to  Virginia.  The 
following  year  Jack  came  to  New  York  and  was  in  trouble 
again.  This  time  he  was  charged  with  "beating"  the 
Broadway  Central  people  out  of  a  board  bill.  For  this 
offense  he  was  sent  to  the  Penitentiary  for  three  months. 
In  size  the  Captain  is  diminutive,  voluble  of  speech,  full  of 
weird  tales  of  adventure  in  Cuba  and  is  not  at  all  too  gifted 


90  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

with  telling  the  truth.  He  returned  to  Cuba  where  he  was 
promised  a  position  by  his  old  comrade,  General  Gomez — 
as  he  called  him.  But  of  these  things  I  have  no  personal 
knowledge  and  would  be  unwilling  to  believe  one-fourth  of 
what  was  said  of  his  past  or  future. 

It  looks  sometimes  like  an  awful  waste  of  time  to  do  any- 
thing— even  of  a  humanitarian  character  for  the  average 
crook  who  tries  to  interest  you  in  his  welfare  with  a  pack  of 
lies.  But  I  have  never  refused  these  people  when  I 
thought  I  could  do  them  any  good.  I  have  worked  for 
them  in  every  possible  way  that  I  might  win  their  confi- 
dence and  thus  lead  them  into  a  better  life.  I  have  learned 
by  experience  not  to  believe  all  a  crook  says  or  even  a 
hundredth  part  of  it.  It  don't  do  to  allow  yourslf  to  be 
caught  napping  by  these  gentry  who  think  they  have  every- 
thing to  gain  and  nothing  to  lose  by  a  lie. 

Kahn,  The  Black- Hearted  Syrian 

In  the  lower  part  of  New  York  near  the  Battery,  in  the 
vicinity  of  Washington  and  Greenwich  Streets,  there  is  and 
has  been  for  several  years  what  is  known  as  the  Syrian 
colony.  The  few  immigrants  that  come  from  Damascus, 
Beyrout  and  other  parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire  all  seem  to 
gather  here.  As  it  is  contrary  to  the  Koran  for  any  of 
them  to  use  liquor  of  any  kind,  or  sell  it,  these  Moham- 
medans are  seldom  in  prison,  yet  they  are  lacking  in  saint- 
ly character  as  much  as  the  Latin  and  Slavic  nations  of 
Europe.  At  the  time  of  which  I  write  there  was  a  hotel 
or  boarding  house  in  the  Syrian  colony,  kept  by  a  widow 
named  Lazarus.  She  spoke  the  English  language  very  im- 
perfectly. But  she  had  in  her  employment  an  experi- 
enced hotel  manager  who  attended  to  all  her  affairs  whose 
name  was  Abirams.  He  had  been  in  the  country  a  number 
of  years  and  could  speak  the  English  tongue  fairly  well. 
Everybody  liked  Abirams  as  he  kept  the  house  clean  and 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  91 

sought  to  make  it  respectable.  On  one  occasion  a  country- 
man named  Kahn  came  with  a  young  girl  and  tried  to  hire 
a  room  in  the  hotel  for  immoral  purposes.  Abirams  posi- 
tively refused  to  receive  him  or  the  woman.  Words  passed 
between  them.  Then  he  left  the  place  swearing  ven- 
geance. 

It  was  afterwards  learned  that  Kahn  was  a  criminal  of 
the  deepest  dye  and  would  do  anything  to  ruin  an  innocent 
man.  Twice  he  had  been  saved  from  the  gallows  by  turn- 
ing King's  evidence  in  his  own  country.  Since  he  came  to 
America  he  was  known  to  have  sent  many  of  his  country- 
men to  prison  for  long  terms  on  perjured  evidence.  He 
would  do  anything  to  save  his  own  neck. 

In  an  hour  afterwards  Kahn  returned  to  the  hotel  with  a 
police  officer  and  charged  Abirams  with  robbery.  The 
prisoner  was  at  once  put  under  arrest  and  then  locked  up 
over  night.  In  the  morning  he  appeared  in  the  Tombs 
Police  Court.  Kahn  was  on  hand  and  presented  before 
the  Magistrate  a  sworn  affidavit  that  Abirams  had  robbed 
him  of  money  and  a  watch  in  the  Syrian  hotel  the  previous 
night.  The  woman  was  also  present  as  a  corroborative 
witness.  Without  further  examination  the.  prisoner  was 
committed  to  await  the  action  of  the  grand  jury.  For  five 
or  six  weeks  the  poor  Syrian,  Abirams,  neglected  and  for- 
saken by  his  countrymen,  lay  in  prison  on  a  false  charge 
founded  only  on  malice  and  perjury.  I  made  an  investiga- 
tion of  the  case  and  secured  affidavits  of  Abirams'  previous 
good  character,  showing  him  to  be  an  exceptionally  good 
man.  I  visited  the  Syrian  colony  personally  and  soon  had 
ample  reason  to  believe  that  Abirams  was  innocent  of  the 
charge  placed  against  him  by  Kahn.  After  a  few  weeks 
the  woman  in  the  case  disappeared  for  fear  of  arrest,  then 
Kahn  was  given  to  understand  that  if  he  went  before  the 
grand  jury  and  perjured  himself,  he  would  receive  a  long 
term  of  imprisonment.     Indeed,  he  had  offered  to  withdraw 


92  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

the  charge  for  a  money  consideration,  but  he,  too,  became 
afraid  of  arrest  and  then  fled  to  parts  unknown. 

In  the  meantime  I  visited  the  District  Attorney's  office 
where  I  sought  to  interest  Mr.  Henry  W.  Unger,  Col.  Gar- 
diner's chief  assistant,  in  behalf  of  the  poor  Syrian.  Mr. 
Unger,  always  courteous  and  gentlemanly,  gave  me  much 
encouragement — eternal  blessings  on  his  head — he  has  al- 
ways tried  to  temper  justice  with  mercy  by  giving  the 
friendless  a  helping  hand,  and  doing  it  kindly,  and  will 
certainly  not  lose  his  reward. 

It  was  afterwards  learned  by  indisputable  evidence  that 
Kahn  was  a  tough  character  and  had  done  the  same  thing 
before — that  is,  he  sent  innocent  men  to  prison  who  anger- 
ed him,  and  was  ready  to  perjure  himself  again  if  we  had 
not  made  an  investigation  and  showed  him  up  as  a  notori- 
ous liar  and  blackmailer. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  Abirams  was  honorably  dis- 
charged and  returned  to  the  colony  a  wiser  man.  The 
notorious  Kahn  was  so  scared  that  he  kept  out  of  New  York 
for  many  months  afterwards. 

A  Crook  Whose  Specialty  Was  Knock-Out  Drops 

On  October  9th,  1903,  a  gentleman  of  the  crooked  pro- 
fession named  Walter  Wilson,  alias  George  Hill,  alias 
Herman  Fentner,  alias  Mr.  Hawkshaw  et  al.,  was  sentenced 
to  thirty-three  years  imprisonment  in  the  Court  of  General 
Sessions.  There  were  eighteen  indictments  pending 
against  him  but  he  pleaded  guilty  only  to  four,  with  the 
above  results.  Wilson  has  had  a  criminal  record  extending 
over  twenty  years.  His  specialty  in  crime  is  said  to  be  in 
the  scientific  use  of  knock-out  drops,  which  in  the  medical 
profession  is  known  as  chloral,  and  at  this  he  was  an 
adept. 

For  some  years  he  has  worked  in  the  Tenderloin,  giving 
his  entire  attention  to  all  kinds   of  robberies,    including 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  93 

panel  work  in  which  he  seems  to  be  expert.  He  has  labor- 
ed assiduously  for  several  years  with  women  of  the  street 
and  made  a  large  amount  of  money,  only  to  lose  it  as  fast 
as  it  came  to  him.  How  many  persons  have  received  his 
"drops"  and  with  fatal  results  God  only  knows. 

Wilson  is  a  most  interesting  character,  is  intelligent, 
wide  awake,  and  has  the  ability  and  genuine  reserve  force 
in  sufficient  quantities  to  command  an  army  or  govern  a 
republic  or  quell  an  insurrection.  He  is  a  "crack"  crim- 
inal of  the  twentieth  century  type  and  while  in  the  panel 
business  usually  went  for  big  game.  He  is  alert,  daring 
and  muscular  and  would  have  been  a  dangerous  character 
to  meet  in  a  lonely  road.  He  has  the  brains  of  a  leader  and 
could  handle  men.  His  gray  piercing  eyes  and  the  facial 
expression  show  that  he  would  allow  nothing  to  stand  in 
his  way  if  put  to  the  test.  His  weakness  seems  to  be  that 
when  he  has  plenty  of  money  and  is  full  of  "booze"  he  be- 
comes garrulous  and  says  too  much. 

Wilson  began  crime  shortly  after  he  was  twenty  years 
of  age;  his  first  sentence  was  less  than  a  year  on  the  Island 
for  the  robbery  of  a  diamond  pin;  he  claims  to  have  "done 
time"  on  this  occasion  innocently;  he  had  taken  the  blame 
for  Nellie's  sake,  his  common  law  wife,  who  afterwards 
went  back  on  him.  Away  back  in  the  early  nineties  he 
stole  a  trunk  of  clothing  from  Hazel  Thorne,  the  ac- 
tress.    For  this  he  was  sent  to  Sing  Sing  for  four  years. 

For  several  years  past  he  has  spent  his  summers  at  the 
races  at  Gravesend  and  Saratoga.  While  in  the  latter 
village  he  nearly  got  away  with  a  bag  of  jewelry  valued  at 
$1,500.00,  but  as  he  returned  the  "stuff"  the  lady  refused 
to  prosecute  him. 

How  many  more  times  this  man  has  been  in  prison  under 
old  and  new  aliases  we  have  no  means  of  knowing  at  the 
present  moment,  but  that  he  has  been  in  prison  a  number 
of  times  we  have  no  doubt  whatever.     During  all  these 


94  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

years  he  seems  to  have  had  an  intense  dislike  to  honest 
labor.  Like  most  other  "gentlemen"  of  the  crooked  pro- 
fession, he  preferred  to  live  like  a  "dude"  on  his  ill-gotten 
gains  rather  than  be  a  man  and  work  like  other  men. 

As  soon  as  Wilson  had  secured  his  freedom  after  serving 
his  first  sentence  he  made  up  his  mind  to  be  a  man  and  do 
the  right  thing.     He  says: 

"I  accepted  employment  with  a  man  uptown  for  five 
dollars  a  week  and  board.  I  was  willing  to  do  anything  to 
outlive  my  past  life — if  that  could  be  done. 

"One  day  some  of  my  old  companions  who  had  known 
me  in  the  Penitentiary  came  to  me  while  at  work  and 
threatened  to  expose  me  unless  I  gave  them  ten  dollars.  I 
refused  at  first  and  was  willing  to  fight  them  to  the  bitter 
end.  I  would  not  be  blackmailed.  As  they  kept  it  up  for 
several  days,  I  gave  them  money  rather  than  lose  my  job. 
Then  they  came  again,  and  told  others  who  made  the  same 
demand  on  me.  After  this  I  refused  every  appeal  and  told 
them  to  go  and  do  their  worst;  as  a  result  I  lost  my  job. 
I  searched  the  city  for  honest  work  for  weeks,  but  could 
find  none.  Then  I  became  a  gambler.  I  went  to  the  races 
all  around  New  York,  where  I  made  money  easy.  I  confess 
as  a  gambler  I  have  had  a  checkered  career,  and  even  now 
do  not  wish  to  tell  all  the  escapades  through  which  I 
passed.  But  they  were  not  of  the  best  quality  and  many 
cf  them  were  deeds  of  darkness. 

"Some  months  ago  I  returned  to  the  city.  I  wanted 
money  badly  and  resorted  to  crime,  as  I  did  not  want  to 
work.  This  is  straight — /  did  not  want  to  work,"  and  he 
said  it  with  an  emphasis. 

"I  located  in  the  Tenderloin  and  worked  in  partnership 
with  a  woman  of  the  street.  We  played  the  panel  game 
between  us  and  made  lots  of  money.  We  succeeded  in 
robbing  men  of  means  who  fell  into  our  net.  Every  week 
when  I  divided  the  graft,  we  had  a  big  roll  of  bills  each." 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  95 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  that  panel  thievery  is  the  old 
game  of  robbery  in  which  injured  innocence  takes  part.  It 
is  still  practised  in  many  parts  of  the  city — especially  the 
Tenderloin,  but  not  as  much  as  in  former  years.  The 
three  parties  in  such  a  crime  are  (1)  a  woman — elegantly 
dressed,  with  plenty  of  borrowed  jewelry,  but  dissolute,  (2) 
her  so  called  profligate  husband,  and  (3)  her  victim.  The 
woman  goes  to  the  street — Fifth  Avenue — and  inveigles 
some  young  blood,  a  banker  or  rich  merchant  to  her  apart- 
ments. Then  the  so-called  husband  shows  up  unexpected- 
ly. Then  there  is  trouble  but  it  is  averted  by  a  heavy  cash 
payment,  after  which  the  victim  goes  free  a  wiser  man. 

The  same  thing  is  continued  night  after  night  for  years. 
Net  one  victim  in  a  hundred  ever  squeals — he  is  willing  to 
pay  any  amount  of  money  rather  than  do  so.  Sometimes 
the  so-called  husband  shows  himself  to  be  an  adept  in  the 
use  of  knock-out  drops  administered  in  wine.  After  the 
victim  becomes  senseless  he  is  robbed  of  all  he  has  and  left 
on  the  premises.  After  a  few  days  rest  in  Long  Branch  or 
Saratoga  they  return  again  to  the  city  where  the  same  thing 
is  carried  on  nightly.  This  is  what  is  called  the  Panel 
Game.  Within  recent  years  the  Courts  have  been  very 
severe  with  such  people  and  justly  so,  as  they  are  a  most 
dangerous  class. 

Wilson  continued:  "After  a  while  I  became  reckless 
snd  careless  and  got  caught  red-handed.  I  have  found 
once  more  that  the  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard.  But 
now  I  am  done  with  that  life.  Ever  since  my  return  to  the 
city  I  have  been  living  in  hell.     I  knew  I  was  doing  wrong. 

"I  wish  they  had  sent  me  to  the  electric  chair — I  would 
be  better  off  in  the  end. 

"just  think  of  it — thirty-three  years  in  prison,  and  yet  it 
is  all  my  own  fault. 

"When  I  come  out,  if  I  live  out  my  sentence,  I  will  be  an 


96  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

old  man — sixty  years  of  age.     Such  a  sentence  is  simply  a 
civil  death." 

A  Young  Man  Whose  Craze  Was  In  Slashing  Ladies'  Dresses 

In  one  of  my  early  experiences  with  criminals  it  was  my 
fortune,  or  misfortune,  to  have  met  a  young  man  named 
Max  Krebs  who  was  a  rank  destructionist.  He  was  a  Ger- 
man by  birth,  and  had  only  been  in  this  country  about  a 
year.  He  must  have  been  shipped  away  from  the  Father- 
land by  his  own  people  as  a  degenerate  or  the  black  sheep 
of  the  family.  He  was  a  good  looking  young  man,  well 
dressed,  light  hair,  brown  eyes,  and  a  florid  complexion. 
He  was  fairly  well  educated,  pleasant  in  manners  and  must 
have  come  from  a  respectable  home. 

I  am  satisfied  now  that  his  people  must  have  been  well 
to  do  for  they  sent  him  regular  monthly  allowances  to  pay 
his  board  and  to  keep  him  in  clothing.  But  he  was  a  de- 
generate and  clearly  insane  when  in  a  crowd  of  ladies. 
Whenever  the  opportunity  came  to  him  he  sought  to  cut 
their  dresses  with  a  pen  knife  or  sometimes  a  small  pair 
of  shears.  He  knew  his  business  so  well  that  hundreds  of 
elegant  silk  and  satin  dresses  were  cut  and  destroyed  on  the 
street  but  were  not  discovered  till  the  owners  returned 
home.  In  giving  their  testimony  these  ladies  always  re- 
membered that  they  saw  a  young  man  who  looked  like  a 
Teuton  "crowd  up"  against  them  on  the  street.  And  while 
they  could  not  identify  him  positively,  the  defendant  looked 
very  much  like  the  dress  slasher.  On  several  occasions 
Max  missed  imprisonment  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth  simply 
because  he  could  not  be  identified. 

In  December,  1898,  he  was  arrested  on  Fourteenth 
Street,  near  Fifth  Avenue,  charged  with  cutting  ladies' 
dresses;  the  technical  charge  was  malicious  mischief.  The 
crime  was  committed  around  the  holidays  when  the  streets 
in  the  shopping  district  were  densely  crowded.     Many  com- 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  97 

plaints  had  been  made  to  the  police  that  such  a  man  was  at 
large — whose  only  business  was  to  ruin  female  attire.  He 
was  the  victim  of  some  insane  delusion,  although  he  never 
showed  it  in  his  speech.  I  questioned  Max  many  times  and 
tried  to  look  him  straight  in  the  eye  but  he  could  not  stand 
that — his  eyes  were  not  honest  and,  alas,  like  many  an- 
other young  degenerate  he  could  not  be  depended  on.  As 
a  first-class  liar  Max  would  have  carried  off  the  prize  any- 
where, and  this  was  his  main  stock  in  trade  in  securing 
sympathy  from  Christian  people  and  at  the  same  time  de- 
ceiving them.  From  first  to  last  I  entertained  grave 
doubts  respecting  this  boy  as  I  was  not  sure  what  was  the 
best  thing  to  do  in  his  case.  I  simply  gave  him  the  benefit 
of  the  doubt. 

In  the  early  part  of  January,  1899,  Max  called  me  to  his 
cell  in  the  Boys'  Prison  and  told  me  confidentially  a  sad  tale 
of  police  persecution  as  the  cause  of  his  incarceration.  He 
positively  affirmed  that  he  was  innocent  of  the  charge 
placed  against  him  and  he  had  not  cut  any  dresses,  oh,  not 
he.  I  questioned  him  several  times,  but  could  not  shake 
his  testimony.  He  maintained  his  accusers  were  mistaken. 
As  the  complainant  who  was  a  lady,  weakened  on  his  identi- 
fication I  thought  she  might  be  mistaken,  so  I  aided  him  all 
I  could  and  became  interested  in  his  case.  I  went  to  the 
German  Consulate  and  pleaded  for  him  and  afterwards  to 
the  Legal  Aid  Society.  A  kind  hearted  lawyer  named 
Granger  was  assigned  as  his  counsel,  who  took  hold  of  his 
case  with  a  will.  He  called  to  see  him  at  the  Tombs  and 
tried  to  find  the  trouble,  as  the  charge  was  a  most  unusual 
one  for  a  boy  of  nineteen.  He  afterwards  told  me  that  he 
thought  the  boy  was  guilty  but  was  deranged  and  his 
trouble  he  thought  was  caused  by  self-abuse.  But  de- 
rr.nged  he  was.  for  every  opportunity  he  had  he  used  in 
slashing  ladies'  dresses.     It  was  his  mania. 

On  January  12th  the  case  went  to  trial.     The  main  issue 


98  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

turned  on  the  identity  of  the  prisoner.  The  ladies  that 
took  the  stand  could  not  positively  swear  that  Krebs  was 
the  one  that  cut  their  dresses.  And  as  he  had  such  a  good 
face  both  judge  and  prosecuting  attorney  felt  kindly  to- 
wards him,  and  the  jury  gave  him  the  benefit  of  the  doubt 
and  he  was  discharged.  But  there  was  really  no  defence. 
He  was  simply  saved  by  the  skin  of  his  teeth. 

A  few  days  after  the  trial  one  of  the  jurors  wrote  me 
asking  for  Krebs'  address,  saying  he  took  such  a  deep  in- 
terest in  him  as  to  believe  in  his  innocence  and  he  was 
willing  to  give  him  a  position.  I  sent  it  to  him  but  whether 
he  gave  Krebs  a  position  or  not  I  cannot  tell,  as  I  never 
heard  from  him  afterwards,  but  one  thing  I  know,  this 
young  man  was  a  notorious  liar  and  as  I  understand,  had 
been  exiled  from  Germany  because  of  his  audacious  crim- 
inality as  a  dress  slasher. 

This  case  shows  how  easy  one  may  be  deceived.  All  the 
labor  and  sympathy  expended  on  him  was  wasted.  As  far 
as  crookedness  was  concerned  this  young  degenerate  could 
(to  use  a  slang  phrase)  give  clubs  and  spades  to  men  twice 
his  years  and  in  the  end  beat  them. 

The  worst  thing  that  could  have  been  done  for  Max 
Krebs  that  day  was  to  save  him  from  prison.  He  ought  to 
have  been  sent  to  Elmira  Reformatory  and  placed  under 
the  care  of  Superintendent  Brockway  and  watched  and  then 
made  to  toe  the  mark. 

After  a  few  weeks  New  York  became  too  hot  for  him; 
then  he  was  compelled  to  beat  a  hasty  retreat  to  Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore  and  Washington  in  succession,  where  he 
continued  his  old  insane  delusion,  viz.:  cutting  ladies' 
dresses  for  the  fun  of  it!  He  was  finally  arrested  in  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  caught  in  the  very  act! 

When  he  was  brought  to  trial  there  must  have  been  fifty 
charges  against  him.  In  Washington  his  offence  only  call- 
ed for  a  fine  and  if  it  amounted  to  $100  he  could  plead  the 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  99 

Debtors'  Act  and  go  scot  free.  What  became  of  Max  and 
his  insane  delusions  I  do  not  know  as  I  afterwards  lost  all 
track  of  him. 


ICO  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XL 

NOTED  EXFERTS  IN  FORGERY 

America  has  furnished  some  cf  the  most  noted,  nervy, 
brainy  experts  in  the  line  of  forgery  that  the  annals  of 
crime  have  known. 

Authorities  agree  that  forgery  is  a  crime  of  the  highest 
order,  that  needs  patience,  a  cool  head  and  the  skill  of  a 
genius.  At  the  present  day  it  requires  several  persons  to 
carry  out  every  well  laid  scheme  of  this  kind.  Most  of  the 
great  forgeries  of  the  past  forty  years  were  the  work  of 
gangs  who  owned  printing,  engraving  and  lithographic 
plants.  According  to  the  Pinkertons,  who  have  been  run- 
ning down  forgery-crooks  for  the  American  Bankers  Asso- 
ciation for  half  a  century,  every  well  laid  scheme  of  forgery, 
by  which  banks  and  corporations  have  been  robbed  of  mil- 
lions of  dollars,  was  the  work  of  at  least  four  persons. 

These  consist  of  the  following:  (1)  The  forger  or 
tracer,  who  is  an  experienced  penman  and  ready  at  all  times 
to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  gang;  (2)  The  capitalist,  who 
advances  money  to  open  accounts  in  the  various  banks 
where  business  is  to  be  done;  (3)  The  middle  man  be- 
tween the  forger  and  the  capitalist;  and  (4)  The  business 
manager  or  advance  agent  of  the  gang. 

The  bold  single  forger  who  passes  one  or  two  checks  is 
discovered  as  soon  as  his  paper  reaches  the  clearing  house 
or  the  bank.  But  a  gang  of  forgers  can  work  their  schemes 
for  months  before  they  are  discovered.  By  that  time  they 
are  able  to  get  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  where  they  are  be- 
ycnd  the  reach  of  the  police,  at  least  for  a  season. 


The  roll  call  at  midnight  at  a  New  York  station  house. 


Men's  prison. 


Women's  prison. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  127 

child  criminals  are  girls.  And  the  reason  for  their  down- 
fall in  almost  every  case  is  due  to  bad  homes  and  profligate 
parents. 

One  of  the  things  that  impress  the  visitor  to  the  Tombs 
prison  is  the  large  number  of  poverty  struck  faces  he 
meets,  the  sallow  complexions,  the  sunken  cheeks,  hectic 
cough,  the  glassy  eyes  and  stooping  frames,  all  indicating 
that  the  young  manhood  has  been  harshly  dealt  with.  Some 
of  these  boys  are  so  diminutive,  that  they  look  as  if  they 
were  only  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age,  when  in  reality  they 
are  sixteen  or  eighteen. 

Here  is  a  sample  conversation  with  a  small  boy: 

"Hello  Johnny,  how  are  you  to-day?" 

He  replies,  "I  ain't  doing  well." 

"What  brought  you  here?"  He  hangs  his  head  and 
gives  no  answer. 

"How  old  are  you?"     "I  ain't  only  sixteen." 

"Are  your  parents  living?"  "Mother  has  been  dead 
since  I  was  six  years  old.  But  pa,  he  is  living.  He  gets 
drunk  so  often  that  me  runs  away  from  home."  "But  how 
did  you  get  here?"  "Oh,  when  I  was  hungry  I  stole 
money  to  buy  food." 

This  will  account  in  some  measure  for  the  boy's  fall. 
Think  of  it — a  boy  without  a  mother  in  a  large  city  like 
New  York!  After  I  had  made  an  investigation  I  found  out 
that  his  father  was  an  idler  and  dissipated  and  took  no  in- 
terest in  his  family,  and  the  boy  has  been  under  no  re- 
ligious influence  since  his  mother  died.  Poor  boy!  His 
only  playground  was  the  street  with  the  denizens  of  the 
tenements  as  his  associates,  and  most  of  them  evil.  He 
hated  his  home  and  was  glad  to  get  away  from  it,  because 
there  he  learned  to  drink,  carouse  and  curse  like  his  father. 
That  home  to  him  was  pandemonium!  No  wonder  he  was 
a  thief  and  in  prison. 

A  great  many  children  of  the  tenements  learn  to  drink 


102  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

hour  and  left  the  city  to  parts  unknown  before  any  one 
would  have  known  it. 

Another  noted  forger,  whose  doings  have  extended  over 
a  quarter  of  a  century,  was  Ned  Stoddard.  In  manners 
Stoddard  is  a  perfect  gentleman  and  his  scholarship  allows 
him  to  converse  with  anybody  in  the  land.  With  a  pen  in 
his  hand  he  becomes  a  perfect  genius  and  can  reproduce 
any  written  name  he  has  ever  seen  on  paper.  Stoddard 
has  performed  some  wonderful  feats  in  the  line  of  forgery. 

It  was  "booze"  that  brought  about  this  man's  ruin.  He 
was  a  typical  Yankee,  tall  and  slender,  measuring  over  six 
feet  in  height.  A  man  of  more  than  ordinary  intelligence, 
a  good  speaker,  a  brilliant  conversationalist  who  threw  into 
his  arguments  two  keen  gray  eyes  that  danced  with  delight 
while  he  told  you  some  interesting  anecdote  or  fairy  tale! 

Three  of  a  Kind 

One  of  the  most  startling  forgeries  of  the  last  century 
took  place  in  1886.  The  principals  in  this  deep  laid 
scheme  were  William  E.  Brockway,  Luther  R.  Martin  and 
Nat.  Foster,  a  trio  of  the  most  daring  crooks  that  ever 
walked  the  streets  of  New  York.  They  were  so  foxy  in 
their  movements  that  the  police  worked  upon  the  case  two 
months  before  they  were  able  to  trap  them.  One  morning 
Detective  Langan,  (afterwards  Inspector,  now  deceased), 
followed  Brockway  from  his  lodging  house  on  West 
Eleventh  Street  to  rooms  on  the  corner  of  Division  and 
Catherine  Streets  where  he  found  a  complete  plant  for 
printing  railroad  bonds  and  securities.  Detective  Cosgrove 
paid  his  attention  to  Martin  who  had  rented  a  parlor  on  the 
corner  of  Lexington  Avenue  and  Thirty-fourth  Street. 
After  his  arrest  and  his  rooms  searched  they  found  a  com- 
plete lay-out  of  four  different  plates  with  a  numbering  ma- 
chine. Nat.  Foster  lived  in  great  style  at  the  St.  James 
Hotel   on   Broadway   and   Twenty-sixth   Street.     After   his 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  103 

arrest  George  W.  McClusky  searched  his  rooms  and  cap- 
tured $54,000  worth  of  forged  bonds  of  the  Morris  and 
Essex  Railroad  all  ready  for  the  market  with  President 
Samuel  Sloan's  name  forged  on  them.  The  case  against 
them  was  clear,  all  having  been  caught  redhanded.  Brock- 
way  being  an  old  offender,  plead  guilty  and  was  sentenced 
to  ten  years  in  State  prison  by  Recorder  Smythe.  In  the 
case  of  Martin,  who  was  defended  by  Lawyer  Peter 
Mitchell,  the  jury  disagreed;  he  was  remanded  to  the 
Tombs  where  he  stayed  two  years.  Then  he  became  al- 
most blind,  and  taking  a  plea  to  a  minor  offence  he  receiv- 
ed a  suspended  sentence.  Nat.  Foster  was  also  in  :he 
Tombs  even  longer  than  Martin,  and,  strange  to  say,  he  also 
became  blind  and  plead  to  a  smaller  offence  and  he  also 
was  given  a  suspended  sentence.  How  true  is  that  old 
Bible  passage,  "The  way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard." 

The  King  of  Forgers 

Charles  Becker,  one  of  the  cleverest  forgers  of  the  cen- 
tury, was  born  in  Germany.  He  came  to  this  country  with 
his  parents  when  young.  He  is  known  all  over  the  United 
States  as  "The  King  of  check  raisers."  It  would  be  im- 
possible to  mention  all  this  man's  deeds  of  daring,  nor  do 
we  believe  it  to  be  necessary. 

In  1872  with  a  number  of  confederates  he  robbed  the 
Third  National  Bank  of  Baltimore  of  something  like  $150,- 
000  and  then  fled  to  Europe.  They  alternated  their  resi- 
dences between  London  and  Paris,  committing  some  big 
forgeries  in  both  cities.  For  these  several  of  the  gang 
were  arrested  and  jailed. 

During  the  summer  of  1876  Gainsborough's  painting  of 
the  Duchess  of  Devonshire  had  just  been  sold  in  London 
on  May  25th,  for  $10,000.  In  those  days  this  was  said  to 
be  a  high  priced  picture.  The  gang  thought  that  they  ought 
to  have  this  painting  as  it  meant  so  much  ready  cash  to 


104  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

them.  Accordingly,  one  of  their  number,  Adam  Worth, 
stole  the  picture  from  the  rooms  of  the  auctioneer,  where 
it  was  in  storage,  by  cutting  it  from  its  frame.  This  theft 
caused  such  a  sensation  in  England  that  Becker  and  Com- 
pany thought  it  good  for  their  health  to  return  to  the  United 
States,  which  they  did.  This  painting  remained  in  Chicago 
for  several  years,  but  was  afterwards  sent  to  London  where 
it  was  sold  to  J.  P.  Morgan  for  $25,000. 

In  1877  Becker  and  several  others  of  his  fraternity  rob- 
bed the  Union  Trust  Company  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  of 
$64,225  by  means  of  raised  checks.  To  save  himself  from 
state  prison  he  "squealed"  by  turning  state's  evidence,  and 
Becker,  the  brains  of  the  gang,  was  discharged. 

The  last  crime  Becker  committed  was  in  1896  in  Cali- 
fornia. Here  he  raised  a  check  of  twelve  dollars  to 
twenty-two  thousand  dollars.  It  was  well  planned  and  with 
the  money  that  Becker  and  his  "pal"  had  on  hand  to  beat 
the  case,  they  might  have  succeeded,  but  the  other  fellow 
was  approached  by  a  Pinkerton  gentleman  and  as  a  result, 
turned  state's  evidence.  On  the  29th  of  August,  1896, 
Becker  was  tried,  and  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life. 

As  a  forger  and  check  manipulator  Becker  is  a  genius. 
With  the  aid  of  acids  he  can  erase  any  writing  or  figures. 
In  checks  that  contain  perforated  figures  and  lines  he  fills 
in  with  fresh  pulp  and  then  irons  it  over  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  cannot  be  detected,  even  with  a  magnifying  glass. 

So  skilful  with  the  pen  was  Becker  that  he  could  counter- 
feit a  ten  dollar  bill  which  so  closely  resembled  the  genuine 
that  even  experts  were  deceived. 

While  serving  a  long  sentence  in  a  California  prison  he 
made  such  startling  revelations  to  the  Pinkerton  Detectives 
that  one  of  the  superintendents  called  on  him  in  the  interest 
of  the  Government  and  the  Bankers'  Association  for  veri- 
fication. Satisfied  that  he  was  able  to  do  all  that  he 
claimed,  a  favorable  report  was  made  to  the  Association, 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  105 

and  a  movement  for  his  release  was  soon  afoot.  He  was 
pardoned  October,  1903. 

Becker  is  not  only  a  wonderfully  clever  forger,  but  has 
amazing  audacity.  While  in  prison  he  counterfeited  sev- 
eral bills  of  large  denomination  and  would  have  caused 
them  to  be  circulated  had  he  found  an  agent  with  sufficient 
nerve.  He  approached  several  keepers  on  the  subject  but 
found  none  with  the  required  courage. 

He  circulated  several  counterfeit  bills  of  large  denomina- 
tion among  the  German  farmers  in  Pennsylvania  among 
whom  his  knowledge  of  German  and  the  Fatherland  gave 
him  wide  influence  and  many  easy  victims.  He  bought  a 
number  of  horses  and  cows  and  paid  in  counterfeit  bills; 
then  he  shipped  the  stock  to  Philadelphia  and  disposed  of 
it. 

In  February,  1888,  he  purchased  a  fine  residence  on  one 
of  the  most  fashionable  streets  of  Baltimore  and  paid  for 
it  with  a  draft  on  a  New  Orleans  bank  which  had  been 
raised  from  $180  to  $18,000.  Before  the  fraud  was  dis- 
covered he  had  sold  the  property  for  $16,000  cash  and  left 
the  city. 

In  March,  1899,  he  purchased  a  farm  in  Talbot  County, 
Maryland,  tendering  as  payment  therefor  a  draft  on  a 
Philadelphia  bank  upon  which  he  had  raised  the  figures 
from  $120  to  $12,000.  The  farm  was  valued  at  $8,000. 
Hence  he  received  $4,000  in  change  besides  the  $7,500  he 
was  paid  for  the  farm  the  second  day  after  it  was  deeded 
to  him. 

He  is  smooth,  oily  and  ingratiating — well-nigh  as  slick  in 
speech  as  he  is  with  his  pen.  His  manner  is  more  that  of 
a  Frenchman  than  a  German.  He  talks  rapidly,  and  his 
gestures  are  almost  Jew-like.  He  once  remarked  that  if  he 
had  been  born  dumb  he  would  have  been  able  to  make  him- 
self fully  understood  by  his  gestures.  He  cuts  the  air, 
shrugs  his  shoulders,  shakes  his  head,  and  assumes  all  the 


106  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

airs  of  a  tragedian  in  order  to  convince  his  hearers  of  his 
honesty  and  earnestness. 

His  home  training  could  not  have  been  better,  scion  of 
high-class  German  parents  who  seriously  sought  to  imbue 
him  with  a  love  for  God,  and  due  regard  for  the  property 
and  rights  of  his  fellow  beings.  He  was  sent  to  the  best 
school  in  Germany  and  graduated  at  the  head  of  his  class. 
He  was  then,  by  his  own  choice,  apprenticed  to  an  engraver 
and  early  developed  marvelous  skill  at  the  trade.  He  was 
obliged  to  leave  Germany  because  of  his  attempt  to  too 
closely  imitate  "the  coin  of  the  realm." 

Another  noted  American  crook  is  R R ,  now 

living  a  straight  life.  The  annals  of  crime  do  not  furnish 
another  like  him. 

When  he  began  crime  he  was  a  man  of  fine  physique, 
good  address,  suave  in  manner,  well  educated  and  an  ac- 
complished writer  for  the  press.  What  led  him  to  become 
a  crook  is  not  known. 

R first  came  into  prominence  in    1882.     At  that 

time  he  played  a  bold  game  to  fleece  several  Yale  College 
professors  by  means  of  bogus  checks  which  he  desired 
cashed.  He  introduced  himself  to  them  as  an  Irish  noble- 
man named  Lord  Rossa,  who  wished  to  found  a  college  in 
the  United  States  and  sought  their  advice  in  the  matter. 
He  was  not  only  a  perfect  gentleman  in  manners  but  he 
was  so  scholarly  that  he  readily  threw  them  off  their  guard. 
But  the  scheme  fell  through  when  they  would  not  cash  his 
checks. 

After   this   R went    abroad,    visiting    Allahabad, 

Cairo  and  Paris  and  left  a  trail  of  gigantic  swindles  in  his 
path.  In  India  he  is  said  to  have  swindled  a  prince  out  of 
a  thousand  guineas.  Then  he  visited  Cairo,  where  he  was 
able  to  swindle  the  Khedive  of  Egypt  out  of  $5,000.  He 
came  directly  to  Paris  dressed  like  a  Persian  prince  who 
could  converse  in  the  Arabian  language;  he  had  with  him 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  107 

several  body  servants  and  a  cook.  The  latter  was  secured 
to  prove  that  he  was  a  Persian  of  royal  blood.  In  Paris 
he  had  great  success  and  was  able  to  get  acquainted  with 
Sadi  Carnot,  then  President  of  France.  After  this  he 
swindled  several  French  bankers  out  of  $50,000  and  de- 
camped. 

At  one  time  he  claimed  that  he  was  born  in  England, 
but  this  he  denies,  asserting  that  he  was  born  in  Ohio  and 
that  his  right  name  is  Powers,  and  that  he  was  a  school 
mate  and  an  intimate  friend  of  the  late  President  McKin- 
ley. 

That  he  is  a  man  of  brilliant  parts  and  an  able  writer 
cannot  be  denied.  A  number  of  years  since  he  was  on  the 
editorial  staff  of  a  Philadelphia  paper,  often  acting  as  its 
Washington  correspondent.  During  the  reign  of  terror 
created  by  the  Klu-Klux  Klahn  in  North  and  South  Caro- 
lina, R was  sent  to  those  states  and  faithfully  report- 
ed for  the  paper  the  status  of  affairs  eventuating  from  the 
lawlessness  of  this  well  known  society  which  was  organized 
to  bulldoze  the  negroes  and  prevent  their  voting,  and  to 
drive  the  carpet-baggers  from  the  South,  thereby  securing 
the  domination  of  a  political  organization  south  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line. 

Periodical  sprees  are  the  cause  of  all  his  trouble.  He 
runs  short  of  money  and  then  utters  worthless  checks  to 
fill  his  empty  purse.  In  April,  1901,  he  was  sent  to  Sing 
Sing  for  four  years  for  uttering  worthless  checks.  But  for 
the  clemency  of  Professor  Hadley,  of  Yale  College,  he 
would  have  been  sent  to  Wethersfield  Prison  on  the  ter- 
mination of  his  sentence  in  New  York. 

It  is  his  determination  to  devote  the  remainder  of  his  life 
to  journalism  and  to  never  again  collide  with  the  law  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  be  deemed  worthy  of  arrest  and  im- 
prisonment. 


103  NEW    YORK    TOM3S 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CHANGING  THE  GRAND  JURY  INTO  A  BUREAU  OF 
CRIMINAL  EXPERTS 

A  New  Classification  of  Criminals 

There  has  been  a  growing  feeling  on  the  part  of  judges, 
lawyers  and  others  who  are  directly  concerned  in  the  prac- 
tice of  law  in  our  criminal  Courts,  not  only  in  this  county, 
but  in  many  parts  of  the  land,  that  the  grand  jury  system 
has  become  so  antiquated  and  ineffective  in  its  practical 
workings,  that  it  should  be  abolished  and  a  more  modern 
system  put  in  its  place. 

In  this  city  at  various  times  during  the  past  few  years 
several  of  our  General  Sessions  judges,  notably  Judges 
Foster,  Rosalsky  and  others,  when  charging  grand  juries  at 
the  opening  of  terms,  have  warned  that  body  against  finding 
indictments  against  individuals  unless  they  are  grounded 
on  legal  evidence.  Such  labors  simply  put  the  county  to  a 
needless  expense  and  the  unfortunate  defendants  to  much 
inconvenience.  And  even  the  past  year  almost  every  Pre- 
siding Judge  of  General  Sessions  when  charging  the  grand 
jury  at  the  beginning  of  the  term  has  taken  pains  to  inform 
the  body  that  under  no  circumstances  must  they  find  indict- 
ments against  persons  charged  with  crime  except  on  legal 
evidence.  Judge  Warren  W.  Foster,  one  of  the  best  and 
fairest  of  our  criminal  judges,  is  especially  outspoken 
against  this  habit  of  finding  indictments  against  persons 
charged  with  crime  on  illegal  evidence.  On  a  recent  occa- 
sion Judge  Foster  took  occasion  to  thank  the  grand  jury  for 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  109 

the  caution  they  exercised  during  the  month  in  refusing  to 
indict  persons  except  on  sufficient  grounds. 

In  charging  another  Grand  Jury  the  Judge  said  in  part: 

"A  friend  of  mine  who  has  served  frequently  on  the 
Grand  Jury,  and  who  is  a  prominent  business  man  in  this 
city,  said  to  me :  'The  more  I  see  of  grand  juries  the  more 
I  think  it  is  an  antiquated  humbug.  It  is  but  clay  in  the 
hands  of  the  District  Attorney  to  indict  whomsoever  he 
wants  to  and  to  dismiss  any  charge  he  wants  to  dismiss.'  " 

"A  great  many  people  believe  that  the  Grand  Jury  is  a 
panacea  for  all  the  ills  of  our  body  politic.  If  the  Police 
Department  is  short  of  men  go  to  the  Grand  Jury.  If  we 
want  a  new  Court  House  go  to  the  Grand  Jury  and  if  we 
can't  compel  them  to  build  one  file  a  presentment  on  the 
subject.  The  Grand  Jury's  duty  is  clearly  defined,  and  you 
are  not  to  find  indictments  except  on  evidence  properly 
presented  to  you." 

All  this  shows  that  there  is  considerable  feeling  abroad 
against  the  Grand  Jury  system  and  some  of  our  best  think- 
ers believe  it  should  be  abolished  and  something  more  mod- 
ern put  in  its  place. 

More  than  once  I  have  sat  in  Part  I,  General  Sessions, 
and  have  watched  the  Grand  Jury  file  into  court,  and  hand 
to  the  Judge  on  an  average  from  ten  to  thirty  indictments, 
which  was  the  work  of  a  morning  sitting,  consisting  of 
about  two  hours. 

Sometimes  the  morning  has  been  spent  in  finding  only 
five  indictments,  but  as  a  rule  the  work  is  rushed  and  only  a 
few  minutes  given  to  each  case.  There  is  no  law  as  to  how 
much  time  the  Grand  Jury  shall  spend  on  each  case.  While 
I  have  been  amazed  at  the  rapidity  of  their  work,  I  have 
been  more  astonished  at  the  superficial  character  of  the 
work.  It  will  be  readily  seen  that  the  Grand  Jury  has  not 
the  time  in  two  hours  to  examine  even  five  complaints  and 
do  justice  to  each  defendant,  much  less  thirty,  especially 


110  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

when  we  remember  that  these  indictments  are  to  brand 
with  crime  certain  ones  for  life. 

We  have  no  complaint  against  the  Grand  Jury.  They 
are  usually  an  intelligent  and  upright  body  of  men.  But 
when  they  are  in  consultation  with  the  District  Attorney 
they  simply  do  what  he  tells  them,  without  knowing  wheth- 
er their  acts  are  just  or  not. 

That  this  reform  of  the  Code  of  Criminal  Procedure  may 
be  productive  of  much  good  I  would  recommend, 

1.  The  abolition  of  the  Grand  Jury  as  an  antiquated 
system. 

I  admit  that  the  suggestion  is  somewhat  radical,  but  for 
that  matter  all  reforms  are  radical  that  overthrow  old  sys- 
tems, and  are  as  a  rule  bitterly  opposed  by  conservative 
people. 

The  body  known  as  the  Grand  Jury  has  come  down  to 
us  through  many  generations.  But  it  may  be  well  to  know 
that  the  Grand  Jury  system  is  not  an  absolute  necessity. 
At  the  present  moment  it  is  nothing  less  than  the  appendix 
vermiformus  of  the  District  Attorney's  office.  And  as  it 
needs  heroic  treatment,  it  should  be  abolished  without  de- 
lay.    The  remedy  is  excision. 

In  some  countries,  for  example,  like  Scotland,  there  is  no 
Grand  Jury.  The  work  of  preparing  indictments  against 
lawbreakers  is  done  by  a  paid  official  called  the  Procurator- 
Fiscal.  He  and  his  assistants  make  a  thorough  investiga- 
tion of  every  person  against  whom  criminal  charges  are 
laid,  and  if  found  that  there  is  just  cause  for  such  action 
the  accused  is  then  proceeded  against  in  the  criminal  courts. 
If  not,  that  is  the  end  of  it  and  the  county  is  spared  the 
expense  of  further  litigation. 

In  various  States,  grand  juries  are  usually  made  up  of 
rich  men — owners  of  real  estate  and  persons  of  large 
means  and  business  interests.  Whatever  else  the  Grand  Jury 
is,  it  certainly  is  not  a  representative  body.     The  poor  man, 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  111 

no  matter  how  good  or  intelligent  he  may  be,  is  not  allowed 
to  sit  with  them,  nor  has  he  any  say  in  their  deliberations. 
They  are  composed  of  active  or  retired  but  wealthy  busi- 
ness men,  and  apparently  have  no  real  sympathy  with  the 
common  people.  Some  Grand  Juries  were  ready  to  indict 
labor  leaders,  no  doubt  at  the  request  of  the  District  Attor- 
ney, but  when  the  case  against  the  ice  grafters 
came  up,  Judge  Rosalsky  had  to  call  special  atten- 
tion before  anything  was  done.  out  this  should 
not  be.  Independent  of  the  action  of  the  District 
Attorney,  they  might  have  indicted  many  of  the  rich 
thieves  that  stole  millions  from  the  street  railroads  of  New 
York,  and  without  the  aid  of  the  District  Attorney  they 
might  have  indicted  several  rich  Insurance  grafters  and 
took  pains  to  see  that  they  were  sent  to  jail  for  stealing  the 
people's  money.  Such  action  would  have  commended  the 
Grand  Jury  to  the  people.  During  the  McClellan  admin- 
istration some  of  his  own  probers  have  shown  that  many 
Tammany  office  holders  have  stolen  thousands,  if  not  mil- 
lions of  dollars  from  the  city.  But  neither  Mr.  McClellan 
nor  Mr.  Jerome  have  taken  sweet  counsel  together  to  send 
the  grafters  to  jail.  The  Grand  Jury  could  have  made 
an  original  investigation  without  the  aid  of  the  District  At- 
torney and  indicted  them  one  and  all  for  grand  larceny.  It 
would  have  looked  better  if  Mr.  Jerome  had  refused  to 
allow  any  of  his  assistants  to  be  made  Magistrates  by  the 
Mayor.  In  all  this  the  people  have  wondered  why  the 
Public  Prosecutor  did  not  send  the  grafters  to  jail. 

That  in  the  interest  of  justice  the  Grand  Jury  should  be 
abolished  and  the  work  it  does  at  present  given  to  a  Board 
of  Criminal  Experts  with  enlarged  powers.  I  also  affrm 
that  the  Grand  Jury  is  no  more  necessary  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  criminal  law  in  our  day  than  the  feudal  barons 
of  ten  centuries  ago  or  that  a  canal  boat  should  take  the 
place  of  our  Hudson  River  steamboats. 


112  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

At  the  present  moment  the  District  Attorney  stands  at 
the  door  of  the  Grand  Jury  room.  He  holds  the  key  and 
practically  controls  it.  The  Grand  Jury  spends  about  two 
hours  a  day  attending  to  whatever  public  business  the  Dis- 
trict Attorney  lays  before  them. 

In  some  states  any  one  suspected  of  a  crime  may  go  be- 
fore the  Grand  Jury  and  present  his  side  of  the  case.  In 
this  state  it  is  not  the  practice.  In  a  large  number  of  cases 
men  have  been  indicted  without  their  knowledge,  and  were 
compelled  to  fight  for  their  rights  in  the  Courts,  so  as  to  be 
free  from  the  stain  that  rested  on  them.  In  New  York 
County  if  the  District  Attorney  sees  fit  he  may  permit  a 
single  Policeman  or  other  person,  to  go  before  the  Grand 
Jury  and  give  a  one-sided  opinion  as  to  the  guilt  of  some 
person  charged  with  crime,  although  he  may  not  possess 
one  particle  of  legal  evidence.  If  the  Grand  Jury  were 
abolished,  a  Board  of  criminal  experts  could  make  a  thor- 
ough investigation  of  all  charges  brought  against  people, 
and  in  all  likelihood  would  give  them  an  opportunity  to  be 
heard  in  their  own  behalf  before  they  were  branded  as 
felons.     And  this  is  only  right. 

Only  a  few  years  ago  the  editor  of  a  small  monthly  paper 
in  this  city  was  promptly  indicted  by  the  Grand  Jury  for 
libel  for  exposing  the  rascality  of  Insurance  grafters,  a 
work  which  Governor  Hughes  has  since  done  legally  before 
the  Assembly  Investigating  Committee.  At  the  time  we 
mention  when  the  insurance  grafters  were  cut  to  the  heart 
by  the  trenchant  articles  that  exposed  their  conduct  to  pub- 
lic scorn,  they  went  before  the  Grand  Jury  and  charged 
this  Insurance  man  with  libel.  They  were  permitted  to  tell 
a  one-sided  story  to  the  Grand  Jury,  so  as  to  silence  this 
critic.  Of  course  he  was  not  allowed  to  make  any  reply 
till  after  he  was  brought  into  Court  and  branded  as  a  felon. 
The  indictment  was  afterwards  quashed  and  he  received 
some  damages. 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  113 

And  this  is  but  a  fair  sample  of  how  hundreds  of  men 
have  been  ruined  by  such  unjust  methods.  In  this  case 
the  Grand  Jury  simply  did  what  they  were  told  to  do  by  the 
District  Attorney,  he  having  been  wrongly  informed  by  the 
insurance  grafters. 

Board  of  Criminal  Experts 

Under  a  paid  Board  of  Criminal  Experts,  sitting  daily 
from  10  a.  m.  till  5  p.  m.,  and  who  are  there  to  investigate, 
sift  and  go  to  the  bottom  of  things  generally,  the  rich  and 
the  poor  would  have  a  better  chance  of  receiving  justice 
meted  out  to  them. 

A  very  common  opinion,  which  is  gaining  ground  every 
day,  and  which  is  in  some  respects  true,  is  that  big  crimin- 
als go  unpunished,  while  others  who  are  lawfully  convicted 
of  crime  command  such  influence  with  the  courts  or  high 
political  powers  that  they  are  able  to  obtain  their  freedom 
by  parole  or  pardon  or  get  off  with  a  very  light  sentence. 

Others,  after  being  lawfully  convicted,  are  able  to  cheat 
the  prison,  provided  they  have  money  to  fight  their  case  in 
the  higher  courts  and  thus  obtain  a  new  trial  which  in  the 
end  means  an  acquittal.  All  this  tends  to  bring  contempt 
on  our  courts  and  occasionally  invites  the  people  to  take 
the  law  into  their  own  hands.  We  have  too  many  indict- 
ments to-day  and  too  few  convictions.  Millions  of  dollars 
of  the  people's  money  are  often  wasted  on  cases  where 
there  is  no  chance  of  conviction.  The  courts  are  cumbered 
with  hundreds  of  cases  of  men  and  women  that  should 
never  have  been  indicted. 

A  study  of  the  statistics  of  convictions  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  arrests  and  of  convictions  in  proportion  to 
defective  indictments  which  have  to  be  set  aside,  and,  final- 
ly, the  proportion  of  the  convicted  that  finally  go  to  prison, 
would  prove  most  interesting. 

When  Mr.  Jerome  became  District  Attorney  of  New  York 


114  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

County  on  the  first  of  January,  1902,  there  were  640  untried 
indictments  awaiting  action  at  his  hands.  During  his  first 
four  years  in  office  he  laid  before  the  Grand  Jury  20,228 
complaints,  but  they  granted  only  15,937  indictments.  As 
a  result  4,291  complaints  were  thrown  out  of  Court  without 
any  trial.  Then  of  the  15,937  cases  that  went  to  trial,  6,150 
were  acquitted  for  lack  of  evidence  and  other  technical 
reasons,  making  a  grand  total  of  10,641  cases  that  were 
nullified  by  the  Courts  for  want  of  legal  evidence  to  con- 
vict. 

Of  the  9,787  so-called  convictions,  only  about  a  third 
were  convicted  after  a  trial,  the  other  defendants  accepted 
pleas  to  lower  effences,  and  given  that  alternative  simply 
because  the  District  Attorney  feared  that  if  they  went  to 
trial  he  would  be  unable  to  convict  them. 

In  the  Report  of  the  Chief  Clerk  of  the  District  Attor- 
ney's Office,  which  is  brought  down  to  the  close  of  1908, 
there  is  no  mention  of  the  number  of  indictments  secured 
by  the  Grand  Jury  last  year,  but  it  must  have  been  three 
times  the  number  of  the  convictions,  which  was  7,877  and 
then  we  must  remember  that  by  far  the  larger  number  of 
convictions  were  secured  by  giving  the  prisoner  a  plea  to  a 
lesser  offence.  As  a  rule  when  the  Public  Prosecutor  per- 
mits a  man  to  take  a  lower  plea  it  shows  that  the  case 
against  him  is  poor. 

There  is  no  way  to  ascertain  the  number  of  innocent 
persons  indicted,  but  if  my  judgment  is  correct  the  total  is 
not  small.  How  could  it  be  otherwise,  when  the  Grand 
Jury  goes  through  its  business  in  such  a  hurry.  It  should 
be  observed  also  that  the  Grand  Jurors  themselves  are  not 
competent  authorities  in  criminal  law,  and  when  efficiency 
in  the  work  of  prosecution  is  measured  rather  by  the  total 
number  of  persons  indicted  than  by  the  percentage  of  those 
sent  to  prison,  the  weakness  of  the  system  becomes  appar- 
ent. 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  115 

The  fault  does  not  lie  with  the  Grand  Jury  or  with  the 
District  Attorney;  it  is  with  the  system.  The  Grand  Jury 
simply  does  as  did  other  grand  juries  and  the  District  At- 
torney does  as  did  his  predecessors. 

To  show  that  the  Grand  Jury  as  now  constituted  is  un- 
qualified  to  find  indictments  in  a  large  number  of  crimes, 
I  need  only  mention  three  cases  which  must  have  cost  the 
County  of  New  York  in  the  neighborhood  of  millions  of 
dollars,  which  if  they  had  come  originally  before  a  Board 
of  Criminal  Experts,  certainly  never  would  have  gone  to 
trial  on  the  weak  indictments  that  sent  all  of  the  three  de- 
fendants to  the  Death  House. 

The  first  was  that  of  Maria  Barberi,  who  was  convicted 
of  the  murder  of  her  sweetheart,  Dominico  Catalonica, 
July,  1895. 

Catalonica  had  greatly  wronged  this  woman,  and  then 
refused  to  marry  her.  While  suffering  under  great  men- 
tal excitement,  after  she  found  herself  ruined  and  dis- 
graced, and  forever  cast  aside,  she  killed  him.  Although 
insane  when  she  committed  the  deed,  she  nevertheless  was 
tried  and  convicted  and  sentenced  to  the  Electric  Chair, 
but  the  Court  of  Appeals  gave  her  a  new  trial.  When  all 
the  facts  came  out  at  the  second  trial,  she  was  justly  ac- 
quitted. 

The  second  case  was  that  of  Roland  B.  Molineux.  He 
was  indicted  for  the  murder  of  Mrs.  Adams  in  1899.  A 
board  of  trained  experts,  having  two  lawyers  and  physi- 
cians never  would  have  convicted  him,  as  there  was  no 
legal  evidence  to  convict  him  of  such  a  crime.  He  was 
convicted  mainly  on  the  evidence  of  paid  handwriting  ex- 
perts. Doubtless,  a  hundred  other  persons  might  have 
been  indicted  for  the  same  offense.  At  the  second  trial 
he  was  acquitted. 

The  third  case  was  that  of  Albert  T.  Patrick,  who  was 
jointly  indicted  with  Jones  for  the  murder  of  William  M. 


116  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

Rice.  This  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  the  strangest  crim- 
inal cases  that  ever  was  tried  in  a  Court  of  Justice.  Noth- 
ing was  done  until  Jones  turned  State's  evidence;  then  he 
said  that  he  killed  Millionaire  Rice  at  the  suggestion  of 
Patrick,  with  chloroform.  Patrick  was  convicted  of  mur- 
der in  the  first  degree,  and  Jones  allowed  to  go  scot  free. 
Since  then,  nine  hundred  reputable  physicians  have  come 
forward  and  said  in  a  petition  to  Governor  Higgins  for  a 
pardon  that  Rice  could  not  have  been  killed  with  chloro- 
form. After  being  four  years  in  the  Death  House,  the 
Governor  commuted  Patrick's  sentence  to  life  imprison- 
ment. 

If  Patrick's  case  had  been  carefully  examined  by  a 
Board  of  Criminal  Experts,  he  never  would  have  been  in- 
dicted, and  the  county  would  have  been  saved  a  vast 
amount  of  money,  and  needless  trouble. 

My  plan  is  that  a  Board  of  Criminal  Experts  be  organ- 
ized and  assume  all  the  present  powers  of  the  Grand  Jury, 
and  in  addition,  classify  all  criminals;  this  board  to  con- 
sist of  five  persons — two  experienced  lawyers,  two  physi- 
cians or  alienists  and  one  business  man.  These  five  men 
should  pass  upon  criminal  matters,  and  when  they  find  an 
indictment,  give  the  proper  classification  to  the  accused. 

How  I  Would  Classify  Criminals 

As  far  as  we  know,  there  is  no  systematic  classification 
of  criminals  in  any  State.  For  the  sake  of  facilitating  the 
work  of  the  courts  and  saving  much  time,  we  would  recom- 
mend the  following  classification,  which  is  is  entirely  orig- 
inal, never  having  seen  anything  like  it  before: 

It  is  under  four  general  heads,  viz.: 

(1)  The  insane,  (2)  the  mental  and  industrial  illiterate, 
(3)  the  born  criminal,  and  (4)  the  victim  of  circumstances. 
I  have  not  used  the  word  dependent  in  this  classification, 
as  it  is  too  indefinite.    An  insane  person  or  a  pauper  or  a 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  117 

cripple  may  be  dependent  according  to  some  classifiers.  I 
prefer  to  use  my  own  division  under  the  four  heads  into 
which  all  criminals  may  readily  be  placed. 

If  this  Board  of  Experts  finds  that  the  accused  is  or  was 
really  insane  or  mentally  unbalanced  when  the  crime  was 
committed,  it  should  recommend  to  the  Court  without  de- 
lay, so  as  to  save  time  and  expense,  that  the  person  be  sent 
to  an  asylum  or  sanitarium  for  treatment,  and  kept  there 
until  entirely  cured. 

In  case  the  prisoner  recovers  his  sanity,  he  should  be 
returned  and  re-examined  by  the  Board.  They  have  all 
the  records  before  them,  and  all  the  facts  in  his  case,  and 
after  considering  them  carefully,  could  recommend  his 
discharge,  or,  if  they  think  best,  put  him  on  trial. 

Second:  If  the  Board  finds  that  the  wrongdoer  be- 
longs to  the  second  class;  that  he  is  illiterate  and  has  no 
trade,  or  that  he  is  a  lazy  and  good  for  nothing  idler,  prey- 
ing upon  his  fellow  men  for  a  living,  or  that  he  is  tainted 
with  some  physical  malady,  or  is  suffering  from  tubercular 
trouble,  epilepsy,  dipsomania,  or  indeed,  any  progressive 
disorder,  then  the  Board  can  recommend  to  the  Court  that 
such  a  one  is  a  fit  subject  for  Elmira  Reformatory,  or 
some  other  institution  of  a  similar  character,  where  he  will 
receive  mental,  moral  and  industrial  training,  besides  med- 
ical treatment,  and  be  discharged  only  when  cured  of  his 
delusions,  and  fit  afterward  to  live  as  an  honest  and  law- 
abiding  citizen.  There  are  hundreds  of  industrial  and  men- 
tal illiterates  that  pass  through  our  courts  every  year — 
young  men  who  never  learned  a  trade,  and  can  hardly 
write  their  own  names.  The  only  way  to  save  them  from 
criminal  lives  is  to  educate  them,  and  turn  them  out  of 
prison  when  cured.  It  is  a  waste  of  time  and  money  to 
send  such  persons  to  State  prison  or  penitentiary,  as  more 
than  50  per  cent,  return  again,  after  a  brief  season  of  lib- 
erty, confirmed  criminals.       Many  of   our   prisons  receive 


118  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

yearly  as  high  as  82  per  cent,  of  first  offenders  who  have 
no  trade. 

Third:  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  more  than  half  our 
criminal  population  are  recidivists  or  backsliders  in  crime. 
A  great  wrong  is  committed  on  the  community  when  we 
send  a  criminal  away  for  a  definite  period,  and  afterward 
turn  him  loose  upon  the  community.  If  the  offender  is 
known  as  a  rounder,  or  habitual  criminal,  by  all  means 
send  him  to  a  prison  colony  and  keep  him  there  for  the 
remainder  of  his  life,  or  till  cured.  Our  criminal  popula- 
tion grows  yearly,  and  we  are  compelled  to  build  new  pris- 
ons and  reformatories,  simply  because  our  penalogical 
ideas  are  impracticable,  if  not  archaic.  Not  only  are  we 
making  no  progress,  but  some  kinds  of  crime  are  alarm- 
ingly on  the  increase. 

I  do  not  regard  the  habitual  criminal  as  beyond  the  hope 
of  reformation.  I  believe  there  is  a  tender  chord  in  his 
heart  that  can  be  touched,  if  we  go  about  it  in  the  right 
way. 

But  it  is  an  outrage  to  turn  such  a  man  out  of  prison  or 
penitentiary,  after  a  limited  term  of  confinement,  without 
a  home  to  go  to,  or  a  place  to  work.  If  they  know  him, 
they  will  not  receive  him,  nor  give  him  employment.  And 
the  police  will  arrest  him  on  sight  as  a  suspicious  charac- 
ter, and  railroad  him  back  to  prison.  The  State  should  pro- 
vide employment,  and  a  home  for  such  a  person  until  he 
gets  on  his  feet  again,  or  keep  him  in  jail. 

The  fourth  and  last  mentioned  in  this  classification  is 
the  criminal  of  circumstances.  This  man  may  have 
snatched  a  pocketbook  from  the  hand  of  a  lady,  or  stolen  a 
loaf  of  bread  when  his  wife  was  sick  at  home,  and  his 
children  crying  for  food.  Such  a  person  should  not  be 
branded  as  a  criminal.  He  should  be  paroled  on  his  good 
behavior.  To  send  such  a  person  to  prison  is  sim- 
ply to  make  a  criminal  of  him. 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  119 

Our  State  has  been  in  the  business  of  punishing  crim- 
inals for  more  than  a  hundred  years,  during  which  time 
millions  of  dollars  have  been  wasted.  Let  us  try  class- 
ification, then  endeavor  to  cure  criminals  or  restrain  them 
till  they  are  fit  to  associate  with  the  law-abiding  people  of 
the  Nation.     This  is  real  prison  reform. 

I  think  that  such  a  Board  of  Criminal  Experts  as  sug- 
gested here  would  have  fewer  indictments,  but  more  con- 
victions. And  we  would  need  fewer  jails  and  Courts  of 
Justice.  We  would  save  the  taxpayers  millions  of  dollars 
yearly,  but  immeasurably  more  important  than  all  these, 
we  would  come  nearer  to  doing  justice  to  all  men,  and  the 
rights  of  the  people  would  be  more  justly  safeguarded  than 
they  are  to-day. 

(Since  I  first  recommended  the  abolition  of  the  Grand  Jury- 
in  an  article  of  mine  that  appeared  in  the  New  York  Press  of 
March,  1906,  and  later  in  Van  Norden's  Magazine,  to  whom  I 
give  due  credit,  other  reformers  have  spoken  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, but  have  made  no  mention  of  the  one  who  first  called 
attention  to  the  matter,  which  is  manifestly  unfair.) 


120  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

SCHOOLS  OF  CRIME 

Crime,  like  many  of  the  diseases  that  afflict  the  human 
body,  is  both  infectious  and  contagious,  and  criminal  prin- 
ciples can  be  taught  to  old  and  young  as  easy  as  the  alpha- 
bet or  any  of  the  profoundest  sciences. 

As  the  larger  part  of  our  population  dwell  in  cities 
and  these  cities  are  recruited  from  the  immigrants  that 
come  to  our  shores,  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  many 
of  them,  if  not  criminals  already,  come  with  criminal  in- 
stincts, so  that  the  rising  generation  who  are  the  offspring 
of  crooks  are  sure  to  be  criminal. 

According  to  the  present  statistics,  the  United  States 
leads  the  world  in  criminality.  Hitherto,  Italy  and  Russia 
were  the  leaders,  but  now  the  United  States  surpasses  all 
others. 

It  seems  that  for  every  million  of  inhabitants  the  United 
States  furnished  115  known  relapsed  criminals,  Italy  105, 
Russia  90,  England  27,  France  19,  Germany  18.  Not  only 
do  we  make  criminals  ourselves,  but  we  import  them 
through  our  defective  immigration  laws.  Congress  could 
partly  remedy  this  evil  against  a  free  people  by  closing  our 
immigration  doors  for  the  next  twenty  years.  But  our 
political  party  leaders,  who  rule  the  people,  are  afraid  to 
do  this,  hence  our  rapid  growth  in  crime,  partly  through 
immigration. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  when  crooks  get  together,  no 
matter  what  their  sex  or  age  may  be,  they  are  sure 
to     brag      of     their     criminal      accomplishments,      and 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  121 

escapades.  It  is  in  such  an  atmosphere  that  crime  is 
taught,  and  especially  among  the  young.  To  a  beginner 
in  crime  who  hears  them,  all  such  utterances  are  exceed- 
ingly interesting,  and  much  of  it  is  sure  to  make  a  deep 
and  lasting  impression  for  evil.  As  a  rule,  many  criminals 
are  exceedingly  garrulous  and  talk  much,  and  when  they 
tell  a  rosy  tale  of  how  to  get  money  or  valuables  without 
working  for  them,  the  whole  thing  seems  captivating.  Fre- 
quently such  a  story  carries  a  new  beginner  in  crime  off  his 
feet.  It  is  in  this  manner  that  our  jails,  reformatories  and 
houses  of  refuge  become  schools  of  crime. 

It  is  the  general  opinion  of  the  leaders  of  bench  and  bar 
that  crime  is  carefully  and  systematically  planned  and 
taught  in  our  prisons.  The  fact  is  that  more  than  fifty  per 
cent,  of  all  our  first  offenders  return  to  jail  a  second  time, 
showing  clearly  that  rather  than  being  weaned  from  such 
a  life  by  the  imprisonment,  many  of  them  are  encouraged 
to  continue  it. 

When  I  have  asked  boys  and  young  men  why  they  re- 
turned to  crime  a  second  time,  they  informed  me  that 
while  inmates  of  different  prisons  and  reform  schools,  they 
learned  scientifically  how  to  become  pickpockets,  thieves, 
second-story  men,  and  burglars.  That  is,  they  were  taught 
it. 

In  some  of  the  prisons  which  I  have  visited  at  different 
times,  such  as  Sing  Sing,  Auburn,  and  Elmira,  the  inmates 
have  not  the  same  opportunity  of  speaking  to  each  other, 
as  the  law  is  strictly  enforced  to  prevent  such  communica- 
tions. 

But  in  the  City  and  District  Prisons  of  Greater  New 
York,  Blackwell's  Island  Penitenetiary,  the  House  of  Ref- 
uge, the  reformatories  and  county  jails  without  number, 
where  old  and  young  crooks  are  huddled  together,  they 
are  permitted  to  communicate  their  ideas  as  they  please. 


122  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

My  opinion  is  that  all  such  places  are  simply  schools  of 
crime. 

My  cure  for  such  a  condition  of  affairs  is  entire  isolation, 
segregation  and  classification,  and  the  inculcation  of  moral 
and  religious  teaching. 

The  old  adage,  that  prevention  is  better  than  cure,  is  as 
true  to-day  as  ever.  And  yet  our  law-making  bodies 
and  prison  authorities  seem  to  forget  all  about  it  in  this 
mad  age.  Recent  statistics  show  that  crime  among  young 
people  is  alarmingly  on  the  increase,  and  one  of  the  main 
reasons  for  it  is  what  may  be  termed  "criminal  contamina- 
tion."   But  little  or  nothing  is  done  to  prevent  it. 

Charles  Dickens  in  Oliver  Twist  mentions  the  case  of 
a  crafty  old  Jew,  named  Fagan,  who  was  known  to  the 
London  police  as  a  "fence,"  or  receiver  of  stolen  property. 
Fagan  carried  on  a  business  much  like  that  of  a  pawn- 
broker, in  advancing  money  on  all  the  "stuff"  or  stolen 
goods  that  was  brought  to  him.  He  had  a  number  of  con- 
federates of  both  sexes  in  his  employment.  They  were 
adepts  at  the  business,  and  could  destroy  the  identity  of  all 
the  stolen  property  which  he  purchased  daily  from  his 
thievish  customers. 

Fagan  always  kept  on  hand  a  dozen  of  boys,  whom  he 
called  apprentices.  These  with  the  aid  of  dummy  figures, 
dressed  in  male  and  female  attire,  he  carefully  taught  the 
art  of  pocket-picking.  As  soon  as  they  had  learned  the 
business,  they  were  sent  out  in  pairs  into  the  thoroughfares 
of  London,  where  they  "worked"  rich  men  and  women 
for  all  they  were  worth,  and  often  brought  back  large  quan- 
tities of  plunder.  Fagan  was  finally  captured  "with  the 
goods,"  and  hanged  for  his  crime.  This  is  the  origin  of 
what  is  known  in  criminal  parlance  as  "Faganism." 

Within  twenty-five  years  "Faganism"  has  become  a  prof- 
itable business  in  the  New  World.    This  is  especially  true 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  123 

of  New  York,  where  strong  evidence  of  "Faganism"  is  pre- 
sented in  our  criminal  courts  from  time  to  time. 

The  work  is  done  by  a  gang  of  greedy,  diabolical 
wretches  who  teach  boys  and  girls  to  pick  pockets  and 
when  they  become  experts  send  them  forth  to  steal  in  the 
street,  street  cars  and  large  stores.  The  work  is  so  care- 
fully and  systematically  done  by  our  East  Side  "Fagans" 
that  they  are  able  to  cover  their  tracks  so  as  to  elude  de- 
tection. It  is  a  shocking  state  of  affairs  to  be  told  by  the 
District  Attorney's  detectives  as  well  as  many  settlement 
workers  who  live  among  these  people,  that  many  of  the 
police  are  in  league  with  the  "Fagans"  and  share  their 
plunder. 

Detective  Reardon  has  made  a  study  of  "Faganism"  on 
the  East  Side  the  past  few  years  and  has  been  able  to  "run 
down"  scores  of  criminals  of  this  grade.  In  about  two 
months  Mr.  Reardon  has  been  able  to  make  178  arrests  for 
pocket-picking,  besides  breaking  up  a  score  of  "Fagan 
Schools"  where  boys  and  girls  from  ten  to  seventeen  years 
of  age  were  taught  how  to  steal.  Several  well  known 
thieves  named  Meyer  Lewis,  Cockeye  Meyer,  Joseph 
Monkey  and  Fitch  who  were  proved  to  be  "Fagans"  were 
sent  to  jail  and  their  business  broken  up. 

As  soon  as  a  "Fagan"  is  arrested  he  at  once  offers  the 
police  a  big  bribe  not  to  expose  him  and  in  some  cases  it  is 
accepted  with  the  result  that  Fagan  still  remains  in  busi- 
ness and  divides  the  spoils  with  the  police.  This  was  the 
experience  of  Miss  Wold  and  Detective  Reardon  who  made 
a  thorough  investigation  of  East  Side  conditions  several 
months  ago. 

As  a  rule  our  modern  "Fagans"  are  very  foxy.  The 
boys  and  girls  sent  uptown  to  the  Fifth  Avenue  stores  and 
thoroughfares  are  well  dressed  while  those  down  town  are 
dressed  like  school  children  and  frequentfy  carry  a  bunch 
of  books  in  their  arms.     The  New  York  police  will  have  to 


124  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

change  their  tactics  entirely  else  they  will  never  "run 
down"  these  criminals. 

In  a  great  city  like  New  York  we  must  expect  such  crim- 
inal combinations  to  defeat  the  ends  of  justice  by  teaching 
children  to  steal  and  then  receive  the  plunder,  but  when 
such  persons  are  caught  they  should  get  the  extreme  limit 
of  the  law  and  be  shown  little  or  no  mercy.  They  are  the 
worst  kind  of  degenerates. 

Recently  four  Central  Office  detectives  found  a  "Fagan" 
headquarters  on  East  Third  Street  in  this  city,  run  by  a 
notorious  "fence"  named  "Gaunt"  whom  they  arrested 
with  four  others.  The  revelations  came  through  a  Tombs 
prisoner  named  Herman  Doritz  who  made  a  sworn  state- 
ment to  the  Court  that  he,  with  many  others,  was  taught 
the  art  of  thieving  in  Teddy  Gaunt's  School  of  Crime. 
There  were  forty  pupils  in  the  school  and  after  their  grad- 
uation these  lads  were  scattered  over  the  city  in  large 
stores,  where  they  stole  thousands  of  dollars  worth  of 
goods  besides  pocket  books  and  jewelry.  As  soon  as  the 
"fence"  received  the  stolen  property  he  took  pains  at  once 
to  destroy  its  identity.  Then  he  sent  men  out  to  sell  it  at 
half  its  real  value.  In  this  way  the  boys  said  he  made  big 
money  at  the  business. 

Now,  whenever  the  police  arrest  a  juvenile  criminal 
they  put  him  through  the  "third  degree"  to  see  whether  or 
not  he  was  taught  in  a  School  of  Crime.  This  is  proper. 
But  the  cause  of  much  of  this  must  be  laid  to  our  high  liv- 
ing, fevered  home  life,  grasping  after  the  dollar  and  the 
lack  of  moral  training  in  our  homes  and  schools. 

I  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  Boys'  Prison  of 
the  Tombs  is  a  prolific  School  of  Crime! 

What  would  I  do  about  these  things?  Well,  when  love 
had  failed  I  would  treat  the  teachers  and  scholars  of  our 
Schools  of  Crime  to  a  dose  of  corporal  punishment.     But 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  125 

some  one  says  this  is  degrading.  So  it  is.  But  what  is 
more  degrading,  blighting  and  damning  than  crime!  Give 
them  their  choice. 


126  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

YOUTHFUL  DELINQUENTS  AND  THE  CHILDREN'S  COURT 

The  dense  population  of  the  lower  parts  of  the  city,  the 
narrow  streets,  the  ubiquitous  gin  mill  and  the  dirty  tene- 
ments all  combine  to  make  New  York  the  centre  of  the 
most  accessible  temptations — temptations  that  swiftly  carry 
ruin  and  demoralization  to  hundreds  of  boys  and  girls 
every  year. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  generally  known  that  some  of  the  tough- 
est and  most  daring  of  our  present-day  criminals  began 
their  downward  career  at  a  tender  age.  There  is  some- 
thing blushingly  heroic  in  crime — made  so  by  the  dime 
novel,  which  the  boy  of  the  tenement  reads  and  then  emu- 
lates by  personal  example. 

It  would  be  most  difficult  to  assign  a  reason  that  would 
explain  all  the  conditions  that  have  led  young  people  into 
crime,  but  we  are  sure  that  vicious  and  intemperate  homes, 
biting  poverty  and  the  godless  companions  of  the  streets 
have  had  much  to  do  with  the  criminal  records  made  by 
this  class  during  the  past  quarter  of  a  century. 

When  we  think  of  the  multiplication  of  evil  resorts,  such 
as  the  saloons,  play  houses,  bawdy  houses,  gambling  hells, 
policy  shops  and  other  places  that  harbor  young  lads  for 
drinking  and  carousing  purposes,  my  only  wonder  is  that 
so  few  go  astray. 

These  temptations  to  crime  which  are  presented  in  every 
form  to  the  youth  of  a  modern  city  are  altogether  unknown 
in  rural  settlements  and  country  villages. 

We  are  glad  to  say  that  only  a  very  small  number  of  the 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  127 

child  criminals  are  girls.  And  the  reason  for  their  down- 
fall in  almost  every  case  is  due  to  bad  homes  and  profligate 
parents. 

One  of  the  things  that  impress  the  visitor  to  the  Tombs 
prison  is  the  large  number  of  poverty  struck  faces  he 
meets,  the  sallow  complexions,  the  sunken  cheeks,  hectic 
cough,  the  glassy  eyes  and  stooping  frames,  all  indicating 
that  the  young  manhood  has  been  harshly  dealt  with.  Some 
of  these  boys  are  so  diminutive,  that  they  look  as  if  they 
were  only  ten  or  twelve  years  of  age,  when  in  reality  they 
are  sixteen  or  eighteen. 

Here  is  a  sample  conversation  with  a  small  boy: 

"Hello  Johnny,  how  are  you  to-day?" 

He  replies,  "I  ain't  doing  well." 

"What  brought  you  here?"  He  hangs  his  head  and 
gives  no  answer. 

"How  old  are  you?"     "I  ain't  only  sixteen." 

"Are  your  parents  living?"  "Mother  has  been  dead 
since  I  was  six  years  old.  But  pa,  he  is  living.  He  gets 
drunk  so  often  that  me  runs  away  from  home."  "But  how 
did  you  get  here?"  "Oh,  when  I  was  hungry  I  stole 
money  to  buy  food." 

This  will  account  in  some  measure  for  the  boy's  fall. 
Think  of  it — a  boy  without  a  mother  in  a  large  city  like 
New  York!  After  I  had  made  an  investigation  I  found  out 
that  his  father  was  an  idler  and  dissipated  and  took  no  in- 
terest in  his  family,  and  the  boy  has  been  under  no  re- 
ligious influence  since  his  mother  died.  Poor  boy!  His 
only  playground  was  the  street  with  the  denizens  of  the 
tenements  as  his  associates,  and  most  of  them  evil.  He 
hated  his  home  and  was  glad  to  get  away  from  it,  because 
there  he  learned  to  drink,  carouse  and  curse  like  his  father. 
That  home  to  him  was  pandemonium!  No  wonder  he  was 
a  thief  and  in  prison. 

A  great  many  children  of  the  tenements  learn  to  drink 


128  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

beer  when  very  young.  They  are  sent  by  their  parents  to 
the  saloon  with  the  "growler"  and  are  sure  to  drink  the 
beer  out  of  the  pail  before  they  return  home.  Although  it 
is  illegal  to  sell  to  children  of  this  age,  saloon  keepers  take 
chances  for  the  money.  Thus  the  child  forms  an  appetite 
for  strong  drink  and  is  preparing  to  be  a  drunkard  or  a 
prostitute. 

One  day  I  found  a  chubby,  honest-faced  German  boy 
behind  the  bars.  He  came  alone  from  the  Fatherland 
when  he  was  twelve  years  of  age.  An  uncle,  a  farmer  in 
a  Western  state,  awaited  his  arrival  and  took  him  to  his 
new  home.  Here  he  made  him  work  like  a  slave,  giving 
him  no  opportunity  for  either  secular  or  religious  educa- 
tion. Herman  stood  it  a  few  years,  then  ran  away.  He 
worked  his  way  East  by  stealing  rides  on  freight  trains. 
He  would  have  died  of  starvation  on  the  way  had  not  the 
train  hands  to  whom  he  told  his  tale  of  adventure  taken 
pity  on  him  and  generously  shared  their  food  with  him  and 
smuggled  him  over  the  different  roads  till  he  got  to  New 
York.  Here  he  wandered  around  the  city  looking  for  work, 
but  found  none.  Unfortunately  he  was  found  one  night 
in  company  with  two  young  thieves  and  was  arrested  on 
suspicion.  He  lav  in  prison  several  weeks.  After  a  thor- 
ough investigation  we  were  able  to  show  that  he  was  an 
honest  boy.  Before  going  out,  I  gave  him  a  note  to  a  Y. 
M.  C.  A.  worker,  who  gave  him  some  clothing  and  food 
and  lodging  for  two  weeks,  and  then  secured  for  him  a 
position.  Some  months  afterwards  I  found  Herman  in  a 
mission  settlement  as  one  of  the  workers.  He  was  clean 
and  neatly  dressed.  What  a  transformation  from  the 
dirty,  ragged  condition  he  was  in  when  in  prison! 

The  large  foreign  population  of  New  York  and  the  dense 
ignorance  of  those  who  come  from  some  of  the  countries 
of  Europe  is  constantly  in  evidence  in  the  criminal  courts. 
As  near  as  we  can  estimate,  for  we  have  no  accurate  in- 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  129 

formation  on  the  subject,  about  one-half  the  number  of 
persons  arrested  in  this  city  every  year  are  either  foreign 
by  birth  or  parentage. 

The  Children's  Court 

The  Children's  Court  for  the  trial  of  juvenile  offenders 
of  both  sexes  under  sixteen  years  of  age  was  opened  for 
business  in  this  city  September,  1902.  The  law  organizing 
this  branch  of  the  judiciary  was  passed  by  the  Legislature 
the  preceding  winter.  The  building  where  this  Court  is 
conducted  is  situated  at  the  corner  of  Eleventh  Street  and 
Third  Avenue. 

Five  days  in  the  week  from  10  a.  m.  till  2  p.  m.,  children 
of  all  colors,  creeds  and  nationalities  are  brought  here  in 
charge  of  the  officers  of  the  Society  for  the  Prevention  of 
Cruelty  to  Children — better  known  as  the  Gerry  Society. 
They  are  the  custodians  of  all  children  from  seven  to  six- 
teen years  of  age  under  arrest  for  crime.  The  Penal  Code 
declares  that  children  under  seven  years  of  age  are  incap- 
able of  committing  a  crime  and  are  therefore  exempt  from 
the  operation  of  this  law. 

The  Origin  of  the  Children's  Court 

For  several  years  the  Howard  Association,  of  London, 
England,  has  been  advocating  the  establishment  of  Chil- 
dren's Courts  in  that  city  for  youthful  offenders,  but  for  a 
long  time  nothing  came  of  it,  as  the  English  mind  is  slow 
to  act  on  all  such  innovations,  especially  in  a  case  like  this, 
where  the  law  which  has  stood  for  hundreds  of  years  has 
to  be  changed.  The  same  Association  has  also  recom- 
mended the  appointment  of  special  magistrates  to  deal  with 
truant  children  and  their  parents.  But  juvenile  courts  and 
probation  officers  have  been  in  operation  in  Masaschusetts 
for  nearly  a  dozen  years,  longer  indeed  than  in  any  other 
state  in  the  Union,  and  with  marked  success.     In  Chicago 


130  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

the  Children's  Court  has  been  in  existence  since  1901, 
Milwaukee  1901,  Philadelphia  1901,  St.  Louis  1901,  and 
Washington,  D.  C,  1901.  There  has  also  been  a  Court  for 
child  offenders  in  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  since  1901.  By  an  agree- 
ment between  the  magistrates  and  the  Children's  Society 
Judge  Murphy  has  given  two  afternoons  a  week  to  the  trial 
of  juvenile  offenders,  making  a  court  house  out  of  one  of 
the  Society  rooms. 

The  following  year  the  Children's  Court  was  opened  in 
New  York,  and  then  only  as  an  experiment,  as  few  persons 
were  found  ready  to  believe  that  it  had  a  future.  Indeed, 
many  members  of  the  bar  discouraged  its  advent  and 
thought  it  a  foolish  and  expensive  institution.  At  best, 
this  Court  was  only  a  venture  in  the  line  of  trial  experi- 
ences, but  before  many  months  had  passed  everybody 
competent  to  judge  pronounced  it  an  unqualified  success. 

During  the  first  year  of  its  existence  no  less  than  7,447 
youthful  offenders  were  before  it,  for  nearly  every  crime 
on  the  calendar  except  homicide.  While  this  Court  is  in 
business,  the  visitor  who  is  present,  is  impressed  with  the 
quite  orderly  behaviour  of  all  present  and  the  kind  and 
humane  treatment  of  the  attendants  toward  the  children. 

The  Special  Sessions  judges,  who  sit  on  the  bench  by 
rotation,  take  a  deep  interest  in  the  young  offenders  and 
as  each  case  comes  along  tries  hard  to  straighten  out  the 
domestic  "tangles"  which  are  so  common  where  parents 
and  children  get  mixed  in  their  testimony.  It  is  gratifying 
to  know  that  this  city  does  not  furnish  a  large  number  of 
the  "Wild  West"  boy  toughs  and  fewer  still  of  the  Jesse 
Pomeroy  class  of  criminals.  While  it  is  true  that  a  large 
number  are  untruthful,  depraved  and  devoid  of  moral 
sense,  yet  they  are  not  beyond  the  reach  of  kindness  and 
good  treatment. 

Crime  among  the  children  of  the  poor  is  largely  the  re- 
sult of  social  conditions.     Bad  homes,  negligent  and  in- 


INSIDE   AND    OUT  131 

temperate  parents,  sickness  and  poverty  will  account  for 
most  of  it.  And  the  fact  that  we  have  not  ten  times  more 
juvenile  offenders  than  are  on  record  is  owing  to  missions, 
chapels  and  Sunday  Schools  scattered  all  over  the  city. 

Almost  every  session  of  the  Court  is  full  of  pathetic 
scenes  and  experiences  where  mothers  and  children  shed 
many  tears.  The  object  of  the  Judge  is  to  find  out  the 
truth  in  each  case,  and  in  this  he  often  spends  hours  of 
patient  labor. 

After  a  thorough  investigation  we  take  it  for  granted 
that  a  child  is  found  guilty.  The  ruling  motto  of  the  Court 
is  to  deal  leniently  with  a  first  offender.  If  he  has  a  good 
home  and  parents  who  will  care  for  him  he  is  paroled,  but 
if  his  home  is  of  a  vicious  character  he  is  sent  to  an  institu- 
tion where  he  will  be  cared  for  and  learn  a  trade.  The 
main  object  of  the  Court  is  to  save  the  child  from  a  de- 
grading home  influence  and  put  him  in  a  place  where  he 
can  work  out  his  own  salvation  either  on  a  farm  or  in  an 
institution. 

Some  of  the  cases  brought  before  this  Court  are  as  fol- 
lows.    We  refrain  from  giving  real  names. 

John  Smith,  who  lives  on  Avenue  A  near  Tenth  Street, 
is  said  to  be  an  incorrigible;  he  is  only  twelve  years  old; 
he  is  the  terror  of  the  neighborhood;  he  stays  out  late  at 
night,  commits  petty  depredations  on  the  small  traders  and 
otherwise  annoys  the  people  of  the  Avenue.  After  the 
Judge  inquired  into  the  merits  of  the  case  he  finds  that  the 
boy  is  bad  and  thai  both  parents  are  in  the  habit  of  getting 
drunk.  The  Judge  finally  decides  to  send  the  boy  either 
to  the  farm  of  the  Children's  Aid  Society  in  Westcheste- 
County  or  to  the  Juvenile  Asylum  where  he  can  learn  a 
trade. 

Aside  from  the  judicial  interest  manifested  throughout 
the  proceedings,  Mercy  weeps  tears  of  sorrow  over  the 
wayward  boys  and  girls  and  nothing  but  kind  words  are 


132  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

expressed  regarding  them  and  every  one  seeks  to  do  them 
good. 

In  former  years  the  work  done  by  this  Court  was  carried 
on  in  the  most  humane  manner  by  the  Children's  Aid  So- 
ciety under  the  direction  of  Charles  Loring  Brace  and, 
since  his  death,  by  Charles  L.  and  Robert  Brace,  his  worthy 
sons.  The  Children's  Aid  Society  has  done  more  toward 
saving  the  children  of  the  slums  the  past  fifty  years  than 
all  other  humanitarian  organizations  combined. 

The  following  lines  by  Philo  S.  Child  will  in  a  measure 
express  why  children  commit  crime  in  this  great  city: 
"Alone  in  the  dreary,  pitiless  street, 
With  my  torn  old  clothes  and  my  bare  cold  feet, 
All  day  I  have  wandered  to  and  fro, 
Hungry  and  shivering  and  nowhere  to  go; 
The  night  coming  on,  in  darkness  and  dread, 
And  the  chill  blast  beating  upon  my  head; 
Oh,  why  does  the  wind  blow  upon  me  so  wild, 
Is  it  because  I  am  nobody's  child?" 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  133 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  ROD  AS  A  REFORMATIVE  AGENT  IN  THE  EDU- 
CATION OF  YOUTHFUL  LAW  BREAKERS 

A  recent  ruling  of  one  of  our  city  judges,  after  repri- 
manding two  lads  brought  before  him  for  a  trivial  offence, 
decided  that  they  should  be  birched  in  "the  good  old  way" 
prescribed  by  King  Solomon,  and  he  further  declared  that 
children  brought  before  him  in  future  may  be  punished 
by  public  school  teachers  just  the  same  as  they  would  be 
by  their  own  parents,  and  he  bases  his  ruling  on  Section 
713  of  the  Penal  Code,  which  reads  as  follows: 

"When  a  person  under  the  age  of  sixteen  years  is  con- 
victed of  a  crime,  he  may,  in  the  discretion  of  the  court,  in- 
stead of  being  sentenced  to  a  fine  or  imprisonment,  be 
placed  in  charge  of  any  suitable  person  or  institution  will- 
ing to  receive  him,  and  may  be  kept  there  until  reaching 
his  majority,  or  for  a  shorter  term,  subjected  to  such  dis- 
cipline and  control  of  the  person  or  institution  receiving 
him  as  a  parent  or  guardian  may  lawfully  exercise  over 
a  minor." 

For  several  years  some  of  our  best  American  prison  re- 
formers have  been  in  favor  of  the  restoration  of  a  mild 
infliction  of  corporal  punishment  in  reformatories  and  other 
institutions  where  juvenile  delinquents  are  kept.  Indeed, 
after  ten  years  of  experience  as  Chaplain,  I  am  satisfied 
that  a  sound  birching  would  be  a  godsend  to  many  a  New 
York  boy  in  the  early  stages  of  crime,  and  in  a  large  num- 
ber of  cases  might  possibly  cure  him  of  his  foolish  delu- 
sions. 

As  many  persons  consider  the  phrase  "corporal  punish- 


134  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

ment"  offensive,  I  am  willing  to  accept  ex-Superintendent 
Brockway's  suggestion,  and  call  it  "corporal  treatment." 
And  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  the  word  "treatment" 
would  not  militate  against  it  as  much  as  "punishment." 

"The  object  of  punishment,"  says  Horace  Mann,  "is  the 
prevention  of  evil."  If  corporal  punishment  does  not  in- 
spire our  youth  to  do  good  works,  it  certainly  in  many  cases 
deters  them  from  doing  evil  ones. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  that  four-fifths  of  all  the  school 
teachers  and  principals  of  Greater  New  York  are  in  favor 
of  the  revival  of  corporal  punishment  for  bad  boys  and 
have  petitioned  the  Board  of  Education  for  its  restoration. 
When  this  matter  came  before  the  Board  a  few  months  ago 
it  was  lost  by  only  three  votes,  but  it  will  come  up  again — 
and  may  possibly  become  a  law  next  time. 

A  large  number  of  our  school  principals  and  teachers  of 
wide  experince  believe  that  something  ought  to  be  done 
to  the  boy  who  calls  a  teacher  a  vile  name  and  wilfully 
despises  his  superiors,  besides  turning  him  out  of  school  as 
an  incorrigible.  By  that  one  act  the  Principal  who  is  un- 
able to  punish  him  for  his  bad  conduct  simply  puts  him  on 
the  street  to  begin  a  criminal  life.  The  only  thing  a  bad 
boy  fears  is  a  spanking.  And  as  there  is  no  discipline  in 
thousands  of  homes,  the  Principals  of  our  City  Schools  in 
their  appeal  for  the  restoration  of  the  rod,  affirm  that  used 
under  certain  restrictions  it  would  save  yearly  a  very  large 
number  of  our  youths  from  moral  shipwreck. 

Z.  R.  Brockway  while  Superintendent  of  Elmira  Reform- 
atory frequently  spanked  unruly  young  men,  but  then  only 
as  a  last  resort.  Personally  I  am  opposed  to  the  use  of  the 
lash  in  State  prisons  as  entirely  antiquated  and  out  of  place 
where  the  appeal  should  be  to  reason  and  the  higher  nature 
of  man.  But  in  dealing  with  malicious,  disobedient  and 
incorrigible  boys  it  is  different.  They  will  not  listen  to 
reason  and  perhaps  pay  no  attention  to  your  warnings  and 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  135 

will  rush  into  crime  like  a  horse  to  battle  unless  they  fear 
the  rod.  I  believe  when  a  boy  under  sixteen  years  of  age 
commits  a  crime,  if  he  were  taken  aside  and  given  a  sound 
birching,  as  is  the  custom  in  many  English  and  German 
towns,  it  would  be  vastly  more  beneficial  and  would  make 
a  deeper  impression  on  him  than  sending  him  to  prison  to 
be  the  associate  of  thieves  and  pickpockets. 

An  English  town  clerk  in  a  borough  of  12,000  people 
writes,  "It  has  been  our  rule  for  more  than  forty  years,  not 
to  permit  a  boy  or  girl  to  go  from  our  town  hall  to  prison. 
The  substitute,  at  least  for  boys,  is  a  birching.  In  case  of 
repetition  of  the  offence  another  birching  is  given,  and  in 
one  instance  three  whippings  were  given  within  a  few  days. 
The  result  is  we  have  not  a  juvenile  thief  in  town.  Thiev- 
ing is  unpopular  with  boys  who  do  not  wish  to  be  birched. 
But  were  it  not  for  the  birching  which  is  very  painful, 
many  of  them  would  not  mind  to  be  heroes  in  a  prison  or 
reformatory." 

In  considering  the  right  of  parents  to  inflict  corporal  pun- 
ishment on  their  children,  the  common  law  as  interpreted 
by  the  best  jurists  sanctions  it.  There  is  no  revenge  what- 
ever in  the  act — it  is  entirely  eliminated.  In  a  large  num- 
ber of  cases  it  is  a  matter  of  absolute  necessity.  Although 
parental  government  preceded  civil  government,  it  is  no 
less  coercive  and  often  force  must  be  used  in  the  home  to 
carry  out  the  will  of  the  parents.  Again,  the  parent  is 
recognized  as  the  natural  custodian  of  the  child  and  is  ac- 
countable to  God  and  society  for  his  upbringing.  Nor 
should  we  overlook  the  importance  of  inflicting  corporal 
punishment  on  youthful  wrongdoers  as  a  deterrent  to  com- 
mit other  offences.  Punishment  in  itself  is  of  divine 
origin  and  its  application  has  become  well  nigh  universal 
and  is  likely  to  be  continued  in  the  family  till  the  end  of 
time,  and  is  also  supported  by  Holy  Writ.  "He  that 
spareth  the  rod,"  says  Solomon,  "hateth  his  son."  "Chasten 


136  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

thy  son  while  there  is  hope,  and  let  not  thy  soul  spare  for 
his  crying."  "The  rod  and  reproof  give  wisdom,  but  a 
child  left  to  himself  bringeth  his  mother  to  shame." 

During  the  past  decade  crime  has  increased  among  the 
youth  of  the  city — at  least  fifty  per  cent. 

The  cause  of  all  this  is  found  in  the  criminal  and  law- 
less homes  and  the  foolish  prejudice  that  is  abroad  against 
the  corporal  punishment  of  minors.  Every  year  hundreds 
of  boys  from  sixteen  to  twenty  years  old  are  locked  up  in 
the  Tombs  for  several  weeks  and  afterwards  sent  to  the 
House  of  Refuge  and  Elmira  Reformatory  where  they  can 
be  detained  all  the  way  from  one  to  twenty  years,  but  they 
care  not  for  such  detention.  In  fact,  when  you  speak  to 
them  of  prison  life  they  wear  a  bravado  that  is  astonishing. 
But  the  moment  you  birch  them  for  their  wilful  and  dis- 
obedient conduct  these  young  men  quail  and  promise  to  do 
better. 

There  is  so  much  foolish  and  unreasonable  leniency  ex- 
ercised by  magistrates  and  judges  when  small  boys  are  be- 
fore them,  that  many  people  begin  to  feel  that  parole  with- 
out some  kind  of  corporal  punishment  is  a  mockery  and  a 
farce.  Only  recently  a  city  paper  took  a  Special  Session 
Judge  to  task  for  paroling  some  malicious  boys  who  had 
committed  vandalism  in  Central  Park.  There  was  no 
punishment  in  the  sentence.  Nothing  to  impress  them 
with  the  majesty  of  the  law.  If  these  boys  had  been  well 
spanked  till  they  promised  never  to  do  the  like  again,  the 
paroling  would  be  all  right,  but  not  otherwise. 

If  it  is  degrading  to  punish  boys  for  wrong  doing,  then 
the  best  men  now  living  were  punished  in  their  youth.  And 
many  of  the  men  now  believe  that  it  saved  them  from  crim- 
inal lives.  Foolish  sentimentalists  tell  us  that  it  is  de- 
grading to  spank  or  birch  a  boy,  but  what  is  more  degrad- 
ing and  damning  than  crime? 

A  well  known  Probation  Officer  of  large  experience  in 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  137 

the  city  of  Brooklyn,  gave  me  to  understand  that  if  he  had 
his  way  he  would  erect  in  every  Police  Station  a  whipping 
post  where  he  would  treat  to  a  sound  birching,  a  la  Solo- 
mon, all  the  young  hoodlums,  thieves  and  law  breakers  that 
come  before  the  courts.  Most  of  these  young  men  come 
from  bad  homes  where  they  had  no  training  whatever,  and 
where  their  weak-minded  or  indulgent  parents  permitted 
them  to  violate  the  laws  of  God  and  men  daily.  If  these 
young  ruffians  refuse  to  keep  out  of  crime  or  be  at  home  at 
night  by  9:30  o'clock,  let  them  have  another  dose  of  the 
strap,  says  this  Probation  Officer  and  keep  it  up  till  they 
come  to  their  senses! 

As  soon  as  they  promised  faithfully  "Never  to  do  it 
again"  I  would  give  them  a  chance.  A  good  spanking  is 
far  better  for  an  unruly  boy  that  breaks  the  law  than  send- 
ing him  to  a  prison. 

If  young  children  are  taken  from  homes  and  placed 
in  reformative  institutions,  why  should  corporal  punish- 
ment cease  when  it  is  vastly  more  humane  than  cellular 
confinement,  deprivation  of  food  or  what  is  commonly  call- 
ed "cuffing,"  which  simply  means  to  be  hung  up  by  the 
wrists  to  a  cell  door  sometimes  for  twelve  hours  at  a  time. 
All  of  which  I  characterize  as  extremely  brutal.  And  this 
is  done  in  many  of  our  reformatories. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  National  Prison  Associa- 
tion in  Hartford,  Conn.,  a  few  years  ago  the  question  of 
corporal  punishment  in  our  prisons  was  thoroughly  dis- 
cussed. Clarence  B.  Hoyt,  Warden  of  the  Colorado  State 
Penitentiary,  said  that  the  feeling  against  corporal  punish- 
ment was  one  of  mere  sentimentality,  and  advocated  the 
use  of  paddles  for  spanking  unruly  prisoners  and  also  the 
employment  of  an  electric  paddle  to  secure  impartiality 
and  prevent  either  partial  indulgence  or  prejudiced  sever- 
ity. The  warden  produced  a  new  version  of  an  old  pro- 
verb, "Spare  the  paddle  and  spoil  the  con." 


138  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  whipping  post  in  Delaware 
has  had  an  astonishing  influence  over  human  brutes  in  that 
commonwealth  and  as  an  expeller  of  criminals  from  the 
State,  surpasses  any  form  of  punishment  known.  All 
classes,  with  only  few  exceptions,  are  in  favor  of  its  main- 
tenance; and  even  Chief  Justice  Lore,  naturally  of  a  sym- 
pathetic temperament,  has  been  so  convinced  of  its  value 
as  to  commend  it  heartily  and  favor  its  retention. 

Henry  M.  Boise,  prison  reformer  and  author,  says: 
"There  are  found  in  reformatories,  as  well  as  in  all  other 
prisons,  those  who  are  so  entirely  devoid  of  mental  and 
moral  sensibility  when  committed,  as  to  be  beyond  the 
reach  of  any  incentive  or  punishment  except  physical  pain. 
Their  nature  is  but  little  above  the  animal.  For  such 
persons,  the  general  experience  of  wardens  of  prisons, 
after  trial  of  bread  and  water  in  dungeons,  deprivation  of 
all  privileges,  showers  of  water,  tying  up  in  a  standing 
position,  and  other  ingenious  methods  of  inflicting  pain  and 
discomfort  humanely,  has  been  found  a  spanking  with  a 
piece  of  sole  leather,  softened  by  soaking  in  water,  the 
most  effective,  immediate,  certain  and  humane  punish- 
ment." 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  139 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

CRIME  AMONG  WOMEN 

(1)  The  Social  Evil  in  New  York 

The  two  great  causes  of  crime  among  girls  and  women 
in  general  are  immorality  and  strong  drink.  Many  others 
might  be  enumerated,  but  that  would  be  entirely  unneces- 
sary. Nor  is  it  too  much  to  say  that  social  vice  has  attain- 
ed the  proportions  of  a  plague  in  this  and  many  other  of 
our  American  cities,  and  thousands  of  girls,  native  as  well 
as  foreign,  whose  lives  were  once  promising  and  full  of 
hope,  have  been  blasted  and  blighted  by  this  terrible  evil. 

In  a  great  city  like  New  York  there  is  a  reason  why  this 
great  evil  meets  us  on  all  the  thoroughfares.  Within  a 
few  miles  of  Manhattan  Island  may  be  found  naval  and 
military  depots,  where  large  numbers  of  unmarried  men 
congregate.  Added  to  this  we  must  count  the  men  em- 
ployed in  the  shipping  interests,  as  New  York  is  perhaps 
the  greatest  sea-faring  town  on  the  continent,  and  besides 
the  many  thousands  of  immigrants  that  come  here  every 
year,  and,  last  of  all,  the  yearly  arrival  of  twenty  to  thirty 
thousand  young  men  and  women  from  rural  homes,  seeking 
employment  in  the  great  city. 

But  the  causes  of  prostitution  or  social  vice  are  varied. 
In  the  fall  of  the  year  large  numbers  of  young  girls  come 
to  the  city  in  search  of  employment.  This  is  often  the 
most  trying  period  in  their  lives.  If  they  happen  to  find 
work,  all  is  well;  but  if  not  or  even  after  they  have  been 
thrown  out  of  employment,  or  when  pinched  for  money  to 
buy  dress  or  pay  living  expenses,  they  go  out  on  the  street, 


140  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

it  means  their  ruin.  The  temptations  in  the  way  of  friend- 
less girls  in  a  great  city  are  so  numerous  that  unless  they 
are  surrounded  and  even  fortified  by  moral  and  religious 
influences,  they  readily  succumb  to  the  forces  of  evil  with- 
in six  months  after  their  arrival.  I  have  been  informed  on 
good  authority  that  certain  men  are  continually  on  the  look- 
out for  such  girls,  and  after  the  first  or  second  introduction, 
use  a  ticket  to  the  playhouse  and  a  late  supper,  or  a  piece 
of  money  or  jewelry  to  bring  about  their  ruin.  Men  who 
have  finally  landed  in  prison  have  boasted  of  having 
seduced  ten  to  twenty  such  girls  within  a  few  years. 

The  modest  amount  of  salary  that  ordinary  girls  receive 
in  wages  does  not  admit  of  their  saving  anything  for  a  dull 
season.  As  a  result  hundreds  of  girls  yield  readily  to  evil 
influences  and  are  soon  borne  down  the  swift  currents  of 
temptation  into  shame  and  ruin;  and  when  they  find  them- 
selves shunned  by  old  friends,  many  of  them  end  their  days 
by  suicide. 

In  the  Tombs  and  district  prisons  may  be  seen  almost 
daily  large  numbers  of  women  who  have  been  taken  from 
the  street  or  from  "dives"  and  other  dens  of  iniquity  after 
the  police  have  raided  such  places.  After  a  few  years  the 
prostitute  becomes  a  repulsive,  degraded  and  besotted 
specimen  of  humanity  and  sometimes  a  hardened  criminal. 
Nemesis  follows  the  unfortunate  and  unhappy  female  till 
she  ends  her  days  in  the  Potter's  Field.  It  is  indeed  sad 
to  chronicle  these  things,  but  they  are  nevertheless  true. 

We  must  not  forget  that  women  are  naturally  of  a  finer 
temperament  than  men,  and  are  therefore  more  suscep- 
tible to  the  influences  of  the  evil  one.  Young  girls  seem 
kinder,  more  gentle,  more  accessible  to  appeals  made  by 
the  sterner  sex,  and  as  a  rule,  are  more  easily  caught  in 
the  "traps"  set  for  them  by  human  degenerates.  Some 
women  love  dress  and  jewelry  passionately.  And  many  of 
them  will  do  anything  to  secure  them.     If  they  are  em- 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  141 

ployed  in  stores,  offices  or  factories,  and  they  appeal  to  the 
foreman  for  an  increase  of  wages,  he  may  inform  them  that 
Miss  So-and-So  gets  along  on  the  same  salary,  but  he  of- 
fers to  introduce  them  to  male  friends,  who  will  aid  them 
financially,  but  who  often  prove  to  be  their  ruin. 

The  Cadet  System 

In  police  parlance  the  "Cadet  system"  is  the  application 
of  modern  methods  in  fostering  and  promoting  the  work  of 
a  procurer  who  secures  victims  for  the  brothel.  The  sys- 
tem goes  back  to  the  days  of  Greek  and  Roman  degener- 
acy. But  we  are  dealing  at  the  present  time,  not  with 
European  or  even  Asiatic  conditions,  but  with  New  York 
at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century. 

How  the  term  "Cadet"  originated  is  hard  to  tell,  as  there 
seems  to  be  no  connection  between  a  young  man  who  is 
being  educated  for  the  military  service  and  the  man  who 
provides  for  the  sensual  gratification  of  the  abandoned 
herd. 

The  most  guarded  estimate  of  the  number  of  prostitu- 
tions in  Greater  New  York  is  put  down  at  70,000,  yet  there 
is  no  accurate  information  on  the  subject. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  good  authorities  that  the  Raines  Law 
has  done  more  to  make  the  life  of  the  prostitute  and  her 
male  sensualist  respectable  in  New  York  than  any  other 
ten  causes.  A  large  number  of  the  saloons  that  go  under 
that  name  are  classed  by  keen  observers  as  brothels  of  the 
worst  kind.  The  Raines-Law-saloon-hotel  gives  a  cloak  of 
quasi-respectability  to  the  brothel  and  makes  prostitution 
attractive  and  profitable,  and  the  rumseller  for  a  small  fee 
condones  the  crime  against  the  sexes. 

Frequently  the  city  Cadet  goes  into  another  state,  like 
Pennsylvania  or  Maryland,  and  advertising  in  some  local 
paper  for  girls  to  work  in  a  hotel  or  factory,  he  offers  good 
wages  and  is  willing  to  pay  all  expenses  to  the  city.  The 
result  is  that  he  has  a  dozen  applications  out  of  which  he 
selects  five  or  six  of  the  most  attractive  ones.  After  he 
reaches  the  city,  they  are  turned  over  to  human  devils  and 
afterwards  sold  to  brothel  keepers  at  prices  varying  from 
$100  to  $200  each. 

New  York  has  still  a  large  number  of  these  disorderly 


142  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

houses  which  contain  from  five  to  twenty  girls.  The  pro- 
prietors call  them  boarding  houses,  but  their  right  name  is 
brothel.  Under  cover  of  night  these  women  go  out  on  the 
street  and  when  they  find  a  victim,  take  him  to  the  brothel 
where  he  is  robbed  and  then  kicked  on  the  sidewalk. 

A  few  years  ago  the  city  "Cadet"  became  so  bold  in  his 
business  that  the  Legislature  increased  the  penalty  attach- 
ed to  the  crime  of  abduction  by  making  it  ten  years  instead 
of  five  in  state  prison  and  a  thousand  dollars  fine.  Re- 
spectable girls  between  the  ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty  were 
often  induced  to  leave  home  and  come  to  New  York  from 
rural  settlements,  only  to  find  on  their  arrival  that  they 
were  grossly  deceived  by  these  lying  scoundrels. 

Some  time  ago  Annie  Bolt,  a  Brooklyn  girl,  was  rescued 
from  a  wretched  den  on  East  Thirteenth  Street,  Manhattan, 
by  Brooklyn  officers.  The  girl  had  been  lured  from  her 
home  weeks  before,  by  a  young  man  who  gave  his  name  as 
Abe  Krinkoe.  He  gave  her  to  understand  that  he  was 
taking  her  to  a  braid  factory  in  New  York.  Krinkoe  was 
afterwards  arrested  and  indicted  on  a  charge  of  abduction. 

Once  in  this  house  of  prostitution,  Annie's  clothing  was 
taken  away,  and  she  was  told  that  if  she  attempted  to  es- 
cape she  would  be  killed.  She  managed,  however,  to  drop 
a  letter  to  the  sidewalk,  addressed  to  her  mother,  telling 
of  her  plight.  Some  one  picked  it  up  and  mailed  it  and 
her  rescue  followed. 

Not  long  since  a  woman  who  labors  among  these  un- 
fortunates on  the  West  Side  informed  me  that  one  night 
she  counted  no  less  than  thirty-six  girls  taken  to  a  large 
brown  stone  house  in  a  fashionable  part  of  the  city  by  a 
few  procurers  or  cadets.  When  they  crossed  the  threshold 
of  that  house,  they  were  actually  sold  into  slavery.  Their 
clothes  was  taken  from  them  and  they  were  kept  indoors 
and  almost  nude  for  a  whole  year.  Afterwards  they  were 
turned  loose  in  the  cold  blasts  of  winter  to  make  room  for 
others,  such  as  they  were  once,  pure  girls. 

The  only  way  to  rid  the  city  of  prostitution  is  to  make  it 
a  criminal  offence  for  both  male  and  female  and  cease  con- 
doning it  as  a  human  infirmity! 

In  a  short  time  these  poor  creatures  are  themselves 
abandoned,  deserted,  avoided,  and  even  loathed  by  those 
who  once  held  them  in  high  estimation,  and  as  they  are  un- 


INSIDE    AND   OUT  143 

known  and  friendless  in  the  great  city,  they  have  no  altern- 
ative left  but  to  become  the  instruments  of  immorality  to 
others  or  die  in  despair. 

After  a  few  years,  if  these  girls  are  not  sent  to  Auburn 
prison  for  a  long  term,  they  become  Police  Court  habitues. 
They  are  frequently  arrested  for  intoxication,  disorderly 
conduct  or  soliciting  on  the  street.  When  they  come  to 
the  Tombs  they  present  a  shocking  appearance — with 
bleared  eyes,  bloated  face,  disheveled  hair  and  soiled 
clothing — having  lost  the  sense  of  womanly  shame. 

I  have  often  spoken  to  them — always  kindly — and  have 
seen  the  tears  start  in  their  eyes  as  I  have  asked  after  their 
mothers.  They  appear  callous  on  every  other  subject,  but 
here  I  have  always  touched  a  tender  chord.  Many  of 
these  girls  have  informed  me  that  they  are  in  the  business 
for  the  money  and  the  dress  that  are  in  it;  and  they  do  not 
want  to  reform. 

In  the  corridor  of  the  Women's  prison  at  the  Tombs  they 
talk  and  often  fight  among  themselves.  How  shocking 
their  obscenity,  oaths,  imprecations — the  very  language  of 
hell.  Some  of  these  women  have  been  in  prison  for  short 
terms  as  often  as  fifty  or  a  hundred  times.  Many  prosti- 
tutes are  frequently  arrested  for  robbery,  but  as  a  rule 
escape,  as  the  degenerate  complainant  seldom  appears 
against  them.  They  swing  with  pendulum  regularity  from 
a  brief  imprisonment  to  liberty,  till  they  end  their  days  as 
a  river  suicide. 

More  than  once  I  have  gone  through  Chinatown  at  mid- 
night in  company  with  a  ward  detective  where  I  could  see 
for  myself,  under  the  glare  of  the  electric  light,  some  of 
the  frightful  aspects  of  prostitution. 

There  is  said  to  be  from  one  thousand  to  five  thousand 
Celestials  in  Chinatown.  Nearly  every  one  has  a  white 
girl  with  whom  he  lives. 

They  occupy  from  one  to  three  small  rooms,  but  many  of 
them  have  only  one  room  where  they  live,  eat  and  sleep. 
The  girls  who  live  with  Chinamen  seem  to  have  a  terrible 
fascination  for  such  a  life,  for  no  matter  how  often  the 
police  raid  the  place  and  send  them  to  prison,  they  are  soon 
back  again  at  the  old  life. 

Many  of  these  girls  come  from  respectable  families,  as  I 
know  from  investigations  which  I  have  personally  made. 


144  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

After  a  couple  of  years  of  such  life,  the  Chinaman  aban- 
dons his  paramour  and  flees  to  parts  unknown.  It  is  most 
difficult  to  locate  a  Chinaman  as  it  is  impossible  to  identify 
him.  When  he  returns  again  it  is  with  a  new — fresh — 
girl  as  a  mistress.  The  abandoned  one  after  a  few  days 
takes  to  the  street,  or  swallows  carbolic  acid. 

Two  sisters,  once  known  as  respectable  girls,  but  who 
always  refused  to  disclose  their  identity,  informed  a  friend 
of  mine  that  their  father  was  a  country  preacher.  They 
lived  with  Chinamen  for  several  years.  I  knew  another 
girl  who  ran  away  from  a  respectable  Brooklyn  home  to 
lead  an  immoral  life  with  a  Chinaman.  Nor  is  this  at  all 
uncommon.  Whatever  fascination  there  is  about  it,  it 
invariably  ends  in  disgrace,  and  finally  in  the  dark  waters 
of  the  river  or  Potter's  Field. 

Recently  Police  Captain  Galvin,  who  was  appointed  to 
the  command  of  the  Elizabeth  Street  Station,  which  is 
known  in  Police  parlance  as  the  "Bloody  Sixth,"  by  Com- 
missioner Bingham,  has  driven  out  of  Chinatown  between 
two  and  three  hundred  white  girls,  the  mistresses  of  China- 
men. This  is  a  feat  performed  by  no  other  policeman  in 
the  history  of  the  "Bloody  Sixth." 

(2)  The  Women  of  The   Tombs 

Naturally  women  do  not  figure  in  crime  as  much  as  men, 
and  for  various  reasons. 

In  the  first  place  women  are  more  domesticated,  work 
in  the  interests  of  the  home  where  they  fight  life's  battles, 
are  more  gentle,  artless  and  persuasive  in  their  methods 
than  the  sterner  sex. 

During  the  past  quarter  of  a  century  New  York  has  fur- 
nished a  large  number  of  murderesses,  fences,  thieves  and 
women  of  the  street,  among  her  criminal  classes. 

Last  year  the  police  arrested  no  less  than  15,000  women 
of  a  dozen  nationalities  for  almost  every  crime.  Only  a 
very  small  number  were  for  heinous  offences. 

One  of  the  most  noted  female  crooks  that  New  York  has 
known  was  Mother  Mandelbaum.  The  annals  of  crime 
do  not  furnish  such  a  woman  as  this  in  her  particular  line. 

Her  home  was  on  Clinton  Street  on  the  East  Side  of  the 
city.  In  police  parlance  Mrs.  Mandelbaum  was  known  as 
a  "fence"  or  receiver  of  stolen  property.     In  a  few  years 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  145 

she  became  very  rich.  In  1878-9  she  had  business  rela- 
tions with  thieves,  pickpockets  and  shoplifters  all  over  the 
United  States,  Canada  and  Mexico  and  many  parts  of 
Europe.  So  great  was  her  trade  with  criminals  that  she 
hired  all  the  cellars  in  the  block  where  she  lived  for  storing 
her  goods.  She  retained  one  of  the  best  criminal  lawyers 
of  the  city  to  defend  criminals  and  paid  him  $5,000  a  year. 
She  was  considered  highly  respected  on  the  East  Side  and 
was  a  generous  contributor  to  all  charities!  She  was  also 
known  as  a  banker,  broker  and  bondsman,  and  when  men 
were  sent  to  prison  she  was  known  to  support  their  families 
till  they  came  out. 

She  was  very  shrewd  in  business  matters.  The  police 
had  suspected  her  of  being  a  "fence"  for  several  years,  but 
were  unable  to  secure  the  necessary  evidence  that  would 
indict  her. 

It  was  said  that  several  times  before  a  raid  on  her  prem- 
ises, some  person  high  up  in  the  police  department  would 
"tip  her  off."  In  1884  Lizzie  Higgins,  a  notorious  shop- 
lifter, was  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  five  years.  Mrs. 
Mandelbaum  had  been  receiving  Lizzie's  stolen  property 
and  had  become  rich  on  her  plunder. 

But  this  time  she  felt  "sore"  toward  her  old  friend  be- 
cause she  had  not  furnished  her  a  good  lawyer.  When 
Lizzie  found  out  that  Mother  Mandelbaum  would  do  noth- 
ing more  for  her  she  "squealed"  to  the  police.  She  told 
where  could  be  found  the  remains  of  a  great  silk  robbery 
that  took  place  a  few  months  previously.  When  this  be- 
came known  Mrs.  Mandelbaum  fled  to  Canada,  where  she 
lived  in  obscurity  till  her  death,  which  took  place  a  few 
years  ago. 

Another  female  criminal  well  known  in  New  York  was 
big  Bertha,  the  Confidence  Queen.  She  was  well  educat- 
ed, had  a  smart  appearance  and  engaging  manners.  She 
usually  traveled  between  New  York  and  Chicago  in  big 
style.  In  New  York  she  stayed  at  the  best  hotels,  such  as 
the  Windsor,  Brunswick  and  Hoffman  House.  In  Chicago 
she  put  up  at  the  Palmer  House. 

On  one  occasion  she  told  such  a  smooth  story  to  a  palace 
car  conductor  that  he  turned  over  to  her  his  entire  earn- 
ings, a  thousand  dollars.  Her  happy  hunting  ground,  how- 
ever, was  Wall  Street,  where  she  had  been  able  to  persuade 


146  NEW    YORK    TOMBS 

bankers  and  brokers  to  advance  her  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  on  fictitious  securities. 

The  last  time  she  was  on  Wall  Street  she  deceived  one 
of  the  shrewdest  brokers  and  has  since  disappeared  from 
history. 

In  the  fall  of  1898  Mrs.  F.  M.,  a  woman  noted  for  her 
beauty  and  charm  of  manner,  and  said  to  be  a  belle  of  old 
Kentucky,  spent  many  weeks  in  the  Tombs.  She  and  her 
husband  were  charged  with  attempting  to  blackmail  a 
Broadway  hotel  keeper.  Mrs.  M.  was  known  as  a  most 
refined  and  accomplished  woman  and  well  educated.  As 
she  came  from  a  Southern  family  of  respectability,  many 
people  interested  themselves  in  her  behalf. 

Her  husband,  however,  charged  with  the  same  crime, 
was  convicted  speedily  and  sent  to  prison  for  nineteen 
years.  It  seems  to  be  an  impossible  task  nowadays  to  con- 
vict a  woman  of  crime,  provided  she  has  plenty  of  money 
and  can  secure  the  services  of  a  good  lawyer  who  can  play 
on  the  "feelings"  of  the  jury.  In  nearly  every  case  judge 
and  jury  are  more  lenient  and  extend  more  mercy  to  them. 

Another  woman  who  received  a  good  deal  of  notoriety 
in  those  days  was  a  Mrs.  V ,  who  hailed  from  Phila- 
delphia. She  was  charged  with  passing  forged  checks. 
She  was  ably  defended  on  both  trials.  On  her  last  trial 
her  accomplishments  counted  for  a  good  deal.  She  had 
winning  ways  about  her,  was  well  dressed,  and  to  secure 
sympathy  could  drop  a  tear  at  the  proper  time.     During 

the  few  weeks  they  were  in  the  Tombs  Mrs.  M and 

Mrs.  V spent  most  of  their  time  on  the  tier  or  in 

the  corridor — refusing  to  mix  with  the  other  (naughty) 
female  prisoners  or  to  have  any  dealings  with  them  what- 
ever. Their  meals  were  sent  to  them  from  without  and 
with  the  select  company  which  they  received  daily  were 
seldom  lonely  or  disconsolate. 

The  case  of   Miss   Fanny  T ,  who   spent  several 

months  in  the  Tombs  during  the  summer  of  1903,  is  indeed 
ssd  and  should  be  a  warning  to  all  young  girls  who  at  first 
are  admired  for  their  beauty,  then  betrayed,  seduced  and 
cast  off  by  the  so-called  manly  sex  and  finally  disgraced. 

She  was  confidential  clerk  in  a  large  corporation.  Final- 
ly she  was  charged  with  stealing  $37,000  belonging  to  the 
firm.     This  she  stoutly  denied  and  showed  that  it  was  a 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  147 

conspiracy  to  save  certain  men  in  the  office  who  were  the 
guilty  ones. 

Several  male  scoundrels  made  her  sign  checks,  cash 
them  and  turn  the  money  over  to  them.  As  she  had  noth- 
ing to  show  for  the  money  she  gave  them,  she  was  found 
guilty  and  sent  to  Auburn  Prison  for  several  years.  What 
mean  cowards !  To  put  a  poor  woman  into  such  a  trap  and 
then  gloat  over  her  downfall! 

Mabel  P is  another  woman  of  this  class.     She  is 

what  the  world  calls  "smart"  and  is  educated  to  a  certain 
extent  but  not  cultured.  She  was  brought  up  in  a  convent 
in  this  state,  but  left  it  to  become  the  wife  of  her  present 
husband,  who  is  a  graduate  of  Elmira  Reformatory.  She 
is  said  to  be  an  expert  forger  and  is  able  to  imitate  any 
handwriting.  This  was  proved  at  her  two  trials  by  a  Cen- 
tral Office  detective  who  got  into  her  graces  by  representing 
that  he  was  a  "pal"  of  her  husband  who  was  then  in  the 
Tombs. 

These  are  the  best  representatives  of  their  class  and  are 
remarkable  for  their  adroitness  and  power  to  ingratiate 
themselves  into  the  affections  of  matrons  and  missionaries. 
Mabel  is  also  a  habitue  of  the  Tenderloin,  where  she  knows 
all  the  resorts,  in  which  she  has  been  a  frequent  visitor  for 
the  past  two  years.  She  has  refused  positively  to  leave 
her  husband  or  to  abandon  her  evil  life. 

But  the  most  dangerous  of  all  women  are  the  panel 
thieves.  They  go  in  pairs — male  and  female — two  of  a 
kind.  The  Courts  are  very  severe  on  such  people,  and 
give  them  all  the  law  allows. 

The  woman  who  attends  strictly  to  the  panel  or  badger 
business  must  have  a  male  side  partner,  she  doing  the  de- 
coy work  before  her  make-believe  husband  appears  as  of- 
fended innocence. 

Such  people  seem  to  be  very  successful,  as  they  have 
many  victims  who  meekly  submit  to  their  losses  rather 
than  "howl"  or  expose  themselves  in  a  Police  Court.  The 
panel  woman  still  walks  Broadway  and  Fifth  Avenue  as  a 
"decoy,"  dressed  in  the  fashions  of  the  day,  in  search  of 
"suckers,"  and  it  is  needless  to  say  she  finds  many  of  them. 

She  is  great  on  alluring  the  unsophisticated — especially 
rich  young  men.  She  has  silks  and  satins,  laces,  brocades 
and  fine  jewelry,  which  are  sure  to  attract.     And  after  she 


148  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

has  captured  one  and  secured  the  "booty"  she  goes  out  the 
next  night  with  greater  boldness  than  ever. 

Another  woman  that  more  recently  obtained  a  national 

reputation  while  in  the  Tombs  was  Miss  P .    She 

was  charged  with  the  murder  of  a  "book-maker"  and  all 
round  sporting  man.  The  deed  was  done  in  a  cab  while 
he  was  on  his  way  to  the  steamer  that  was  to  take  him  to 
Europe.  This  woman  had  three  trials.  The  first  proved  to 
be  a  mistrial  as  one  of  the  jurors  became  ill  and  was  un- 
able to  hear  the  rest  of  the  testimony.  After  the  second 
trial,  in  which  the  jury  disagreed,  Nan  became  a  "heroine." 
Friends  and  admirers  everywhere  sent  her  baskets  of  flow- 
ers, candies  and  frequently  a  hundred  letters  a  day.  Many 
of  them,  it  is  said,  contained  offers  of  marriage,  but  wheth- 
er made  seriously  or  not,  no  one  knows.  The  prison 
authorities  permitted  her  to  receive  the  letters  but  the 
candies  and  flowers  were  confiscated.  The  third  trial  also 
proved  to  be  a  disagreement,  after  which  she  was  dis- 
charged on  her  own  recognizance.  Since  then  she  went 
on  the  stage,  but  did  not  have  the  same  success  as  when 
she  was  a  Florodora  girl. 

(3)  The  Modern  Shoplifter 

The  modern  shoplifter  is  usually  a  well-to-do,  dressy 
woman  of  the  middle  class,  all  the  way  from  twenty  to 
forty  years  of  age.  She  visits  the  large  stores  like  a  bold 
footpad  in  search  of  plunder.  When  the  opportunity  pre- 
sents itself  she  steals  all  she  can  lay  her  hands  on  without 
being  detected,  then  sneaks  away  unobserved. 

Nearly  all  of  our  large  dry  goods  and  department  stores 
offer  her  unusual  opportunities  for  stealing,  provided  she 
is  well  dressed  and  knows  her  business.  The  counters  of 
these  establishments  are  lavish  with  all  kinds  of  jewelry, 
laces,  gloves  and  knick-knacks  of  various  kinds  and  values. 
During  the  holidays  there  are  dazzling  arrays  of  silks, 
satins  and  velvets  of  all  the  colors  of  the  rainbow  from 
which  the  shoplifter  can  make  satisfactory  selections.  And 
best  of  all,  these  stores  are  so  thronged  from  morning  till 
night,  that  these  petty  thieves  are  able  to  secrete  dozens 
of  small  articles  on  their  persons  without  being  detected. 

Shoplifters  as  a  rule  ply  their  business  only  in  stores 
that  are  crowded,  where   they  can  steal  unobserved  and 


INSIDE   AND   OUT  149 

Afterwards  get  away  with  the  plunder.  These  people  as  a 
rule  are  bold,  daring  depredators  who  will  scruple  at  noth- 
ing. The  most  dangerous  of  this  class  are  so  slippery  that 
they  seldom  get  caught,  but  when  discovered  and  their 
rooms  are  searched,  the  police  find  a  wagon  load  of  stolen 
property,  the  accumulation  of  years  of  thievery. 

Their  work  is  systematic,  and  carefully  planned,  and  as 
a  rule  they  are  able  to  successfully  carry  off  the  goods  and 
get  rich  on  them.  When  they  go  out  to  steal,  these  women 
have  pockets  in  their  clothing  sufficiently  large  enough  to 
carry  away  a  big  haul.  On  this  account  all  the  principal 
stores  are  compelled  to  employ  male  and  female  detectives 
to  watch  these  thieves  and  arrest  them  in  the  act.  Many 
cf  this  class  of  thieves  do  not  belong  to  New  York.  They 
straggle  in  from  Long  Island,  Jersey  and  small  towns  on 
the  Hudson. 

The  Christmas  holidays  are  the  great  harvest  for  shop- 
lifters and  petty  thieves.  A  gang  of  four  expensively 
dressed  shoplifters  have  been  known  to  get  away  with 
thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  furs,  silk  waists  and  laces  in 
a  season. 

Scores  of  these  women  are  arrested  during  the  year  who 
refuse  to  disclose  their  identity  and  many  of  them  are  sent 
to  jail  for  short  terms. 

A  shoplifter  of  experience  was  arrested  not  long  since 
in  a  Sixth  avenue  department  store.  She  was  about  thirty 
years  of  age  and  well  dressed.  When  searched  in  the  Ten- 
derloin Station  House,  forty-one  articles  were  found  in  her 
umbrella,  ranging  in  value  from  eighteen  cents  to  three 
dollars;  according  to  the  marks  on  the  articles  the  shop- 
lifter must  have  visited  four  different  stores  on  the  Ave- 
nue. Among  the  things  found  in  the  umbrella  were  belts, 
collars,  pins,  garters,  laces,  handkerchiefs,  pocket  books, 
pencils,  combs,  brushes,  lockets,  buttons  and  several  bottles 
of  cologne. 

The  shoplifters  are  seldom  prosecuted  to  the  full  extent 
of  the  law,  as  friends  intercede  in  their  behalf,  reimburse 
the  storekeepers  for  their  losses,  after  which  they  are  let 
po.  If  the  shoplifters  are  rich  they  are  called  klepto- 
maniacs, but  if  they  are  poor  and  friendless  they  are  class- 
ed as  thieves  and  have  to  go  to  jail. 

A  gentleman  in  one  of  the  large  stores  told  me  that  they 


150  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

sometimes  lose  as  much  as  a  thousand  dollars  a  week  by 
shoplifters  and  employes. 

When  the  expert  shoplifters  come  to  the  Tombs  they 
weep  and  lament  at  a  great  rate.  They  weep  because  they 
have  been  caught  "red-handed  with  the  goods  on,"  and  not 
because  they  feel  sorry  for  their  crime.  They  are  really 
crocodile  tears  shed  for  the  sake  of  securing  sympathy! 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  151 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE  STEAL  OR  STARVE  UNFORTUNATES 

Many  of  our  most  recent  sociological  writers  comment- 
ing on  some  of  the  causes  of  crime,  omit  all  mention  of 
poverty.  They  speak  of  heredity,  environment,  intemper- 
ance, and  many  other  things,  but  of  poverty  they  say 
nothing  whatever.  Even  Henry  George  in  his  book  on 
Progress  and  Poverty  is  silent  on  the  latter  subject  as  one 
of  the  great  producing  causes  of  crime.  Any  one  who 
carefully  studies  the  relation  between  poverty  and  crime 
will  see  that  these  two  in  many  cases  are  vitally  connected. 

It  is  not  necessary  in  this  discussion  to  enter  into  all  the 
ramifications  of  the  subject.  Indeed  nothing  would  be 
gained  by  doing  so.  In  the  present  instance  we  simply 
wish  to  present  to  our  readers  a  few  cases  which  will  go  to 
show  that  the  question  of  "bread  and  butter"  is  one  of  par- 
amount importance  to  the  average  man.  And  we  shall  en- 
deavor to  show  that  poverty  is  one  of  the  most  potent 
causes  of  crime  in  our  day,  especially  in  our  large  cities. 

The  London  police  authorities  have  always  maintained, 
and  are  able  to  prove  by  statistics,  that  when  the  bakers 
raise  the  price  of  bread  only  one-half  a  cent,  it  means  an 
increase  of  crime  to  the  extent  of  ten  per  cent.  And  for 
the  reason  that  so  many  of  the  poorer  classes  are  so  pinch- 
ed by  poverty,  that  when  the  price  of  food  is  raised  it 
means  to  many  of  them  starve  or  steal. 

It  is  foolish  any  longer  to  stultify  our  minds  and  argue 
against  believing  that  poverty  and  crime  are  vitally  related. 
This  is  especially  true  in  our  large  cities,  rather  than  in  the 


152  NEW    YORK    TOMBS 

country.  Not  only  do  they  belong  to  each  other  like  cause 
and  effect, — but  poverty  in  many  instances  fosters  crime. 

It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  when  thousands  of  our  labor- 
ing classes  are  out  of  employment  only  one  week,  they 
are,  to  use  the  language  of  the  street,  "dead  broke."  In  a 
few  days  the  whole  family  become  so  affected  for  want  of 
food  that  unless  the  father  gets  work  at  once  whatever  is 
of  value  in  the  house  is  either  put  in  pawn  or  sold  for 
what  it  can  bring  anywhere.  When  the  house  ceases  to 
have  anything  more  to  sell,  the  children  are  sent  out  to 
steal.  A  large  number  of  those  who  are  arrested  by  the 
Children's  Society  for  various  crimes  and  taken  to  their 
rooms  before  going  to  Court,  eat  ravenously  of  whatever 
food  is  set  before  them.  When  they  are  questioned  as  to 
why  they  stole,  they  usually  say  they  were  hungry. 

Diminutive  boys  and  even  men  with  sunken  cheeks  and 
pale  faces  are  taken  to  the  Tombs  almost  daily  charged 
with  the  crime.  When  you  speak  to  them  they  freely  ad- 
mit that  they  lived  for  months  by  stealing.  And  in  a  great 
many  cases  they  stole  to  get  food  for  the  family.  The 
same  is  also  true  of  boys  and  girls  who  work  in  stores  and 
factories.  When  sorely  tempted  to  steal  they  do  so  but 
only  when  hunger  stares  them  in  the  face!  In  nearly  all 
the  places  where  young  people  work  they  pay  such  small 
salaries,  that  they  are  unable  to  save  anything.  After  they 
pay  their  board  what  is  left  goes  for  clothing  and  carfare. 
But  there  is  nothing  for  the  proverbial  rainy  day. 

But  self  preservation  is  said  to  be  the  first  law  of  nature. 
"All  that  a  man  hath  will  he  give  for  his  life,"  is  as  true  to- 
day as  it  ever  was.  When  men  steal  to  preserve  life  they 
simply  trample  under  foot  a  lower  law  to  maintain  a  higher 
one.  And  it  is  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  to  fall 
back  on  the  law  of  self-preservation  when  driven  to  the 
wall  by  hunger  or  other  adverse  circumstances. 

The  annals  of  crime  in  this  city  will  show  that  the  chil- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  1-53 

dren  of  the  poor  at  an  early  age  are  turned  on  the  street, 
where  they  are  left  to  steal  or  starve.  I  have  found  by 
careful  observation  that  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  boy 
criminals  of  New  York  started  on  their  wayward  careers 
when  they  were  hungry.  It  was  the  old  story,  "Steal  or 
starve."     And  they  stole  and  became  criminals. 

As  long  as  you  keep  men  and  women  busily  employed 
crime  is  out  of  the  question,  but  when  they  lose  their  job 
and  feel  the  pangs  of  hunger,  the  criminal  instinct  comes 
to  them  with  such  force  that  they  cannot  resist  it. 

An  ex-convict  whom  I  have  known  for  a  number  of 
years  wrote  me  a  letter  of  explanation  after  going  back  to 
the  Penitentiary  some  months  ago.  "Sir,"  said  he,  "there 
is  no  employment  for  an  ex-convict.  *  *  *  *  I  was 
homeless  and  friendless*  *  *  *  *  with  me  it  was 
steal,  starve  or  beg?  I  was  too  proud  to  beg.  And  I  re- 
fused to  starve  in  this  land  of  plenty.  When  I  could  do 
nothing  else  I  stole — when  I  suffered  the  pangs  of  hunger. 
What  else  could  I  do?  And  when  placed  in  the  same 
circumstances  I  will  do  it  again." 

Not  long  since  John  Williams,  sixty  years  of  age,  was 
arraigned  in  Centre  Street  Court,  charged  with  larceny. 
He  confessed  his  guilt.  "I  do  not  care  what  you  do  with 
me,  Judge,"  he  said.  "I  was  starving  and  it  was  either 
steal  or  die."  "Why  don't  I  work?"  "Well,  Judge,  if  you 
will  get  me  a  job,  you'll  see  how  hard  I'll  work.  But  no- 
body wants  an  old  man  like  me." 

I  knew  a  respectable  man  who  resided  in  the  vicinity  of 
Tenth  Avenue  and  Fifty-sixth  Street;  he  was  out  of  em- 
ployment for  about  three  weeks.  By  this  time  his  family, 
which  consisted  of  wife  and  five  children,  were  in  dire 
poverty.  The  fourth  week  he  found  employment  at  twelve 
dollars  a  week  driving  a  truck.  On  Saturday  the  boss  paid 
the  man  six  dollars  out  of  which  he  was  to  pay  rent  and 
feed  his  family  for  a  whole  week.     The  employer  retained 


154  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

six  dollars  of  his  wages  as  security  against  loss  while  in  his 
employ.  In  the  middle  of  the  week  his  funds  were  ex- 
hausted. When  he  came  home  Wednesday  night  his  chil- 
dren were  crying  for  food  and  he  had  none  to  give  them. 
Then  he  remembered  that  he  left  a  box  of  goods  on  the 
truck  when  he  put  his  team  in  the  barn.  That  night  he 
broke  the  box  open,  took  some  of  the  goods  out  and  pawned 
them  and  with  the  money  bought  food  and  fuel  to  make  his 
family  comfortable  for  several  days.  It  is  needless  to  say 
that  before  the  week  was  out  he  was  arrested  charged  with 
grand  larceny. 

A  good  Samaritan  made  an  investigation  of  this  man's 
case  the  following  week,  found  his  family  in  great  poverty 
and  supplied  their  wants.  Not  only  was  it  found  that  the 
man  was  no  thief,  but  everything  he  said  was  true.  He 
was  driven  to  steal  by  his  hard  hearted  employer  who  held 
back  half  his  week's  pay  when  his  family  was  in  great 
need. 

When  all  the  facts  became  fully  known  the  Court  sus- 
pended sentence  and  sent  him  back  to  his  family.  The 
Monday  following  he  went  to  work  for  an  old  employer 
who  had  always  known  him  as  an  honest  man. 

When  I  spoke  to  this  man  about  what  he  had  done,  he 
said,  "I  could  not  help  it.  My  boss,  who  retained  in  his 
possession  six  dollars  of  my  hard  earned  money,  made  me 
a  thief.  I  did  not  want  to  steal  but  when  I  heard  my  chil- 
dren cry  for  bread  it  almost  crazed  me  and  I  stole  to  satisfy 
their  hunger." 

An  old  German,  over  fifty  years  of  age,  who  some  years 
ago  was  in  business  in  Philadelphia,  failed  and  lost  all  his 
property.  He  came  to  New  York  where  he  lived  from 
hand  to  mouth  for  a  month  or  two.  He  was  often  in  the 
bread  line  on  the  Bowery  to  get  enough  to  keep  him  from 
starvation.  During  that  winter  he  went  four  days  without 
eating  anything.     Then  in  his  desperation  he  broke  a  win- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  155 

dow  and  stole  an  opera  glass.  For  this  he  was  arrested 
and  sent  to  the  Penitentiary  for  one  year. 

When  he  came  out  of  prison  he  was  determined  not  to 
commit  another  crime.  He  walked  the  streets  for  five 
days  looking  for  employment,  but  nobody  wanted  him,  he 
was  too  old.  Walking  along  Second  Avenue  one  evening 
he  became  exhausted,  then  desperate  and  broke  a  plate 
glass  window  that  he  might  be  sent  to  prison  where  he 
would  get  enough  to  eat.  When  he  was  discharged  I  met 
him  at  the  prison  door.  I  tried  to  get  him  employment  but 
nobody  wanted  him,  then  I  sent  him  to  Newark  on  his  way 
to  Philadelphia  among  his  friends  who  would  save  him 
from  further  imprisonment.  In  both  cases  poverty  drove 
him  to  crime  to  get  food.  He  was  not  a  criminal  from 
choice  but  only  from  circumstances. 

This  last  case  which  I  am  about  to  relate  was  the  most 
pitiful  of  all.  The  man  lived  with  his  wife  and  four  chil- 
dren in  the  neighborhood  of  East  Fortieth  Street  near  First 
Avenue.  He  was  a  painter  by  trade  and  had  been  out  of 
employment  four  weeks.  On  the  first  of  March  his  wife 
gave  birth  to  a  child.  On  the  third  day  afterwards  his 
home  was  fireless  and  foodless.  On  the  morning  of  the 
fourth  day  his  children  cried  for  food,  then  he  became 
desperate.  He  tried  to  borrow  money  but  nobody  would 
loan  him  anything,  not  even  a  quarter  of  a  dollar.  That 
morning  he  stood  at  the  Grand  Central  Depot  ready  to 
steal  if  he  got  the  chance,  but  there  were  too  many  police- 
men there  watching  his  movements.  Then  he  walked 
down  to  Thirty-eighth  Street  and  Park  Avenue  where  he 
stood  watching  the  people.  In  a  few  minutes  he  saw  a 
lady  come  along  dressed  in  furs.  In  her  hand  was  a  small 
wallet.  He  followed  her  down  the  steps  into  the  tunnel, 
snatched  the  wallet  and  ran.  But  he  could  not  run  fast 
enough  as  he  was  weakened  from  lack  of  food  and  was 
soon  captured.     It  was  proved  in  Court  that  the  man  was 


156  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

not  d  thief;  that  he  was  driven  to  do  the  crime  because  of 
the  dire  poverty  in  his  home.  It  was  a  social  rather  than 
a  criminal  question,  but  the  judge  thought  he  would  make 
an  example  of  this  unfortunate  and  gave  him  ten  years' 
imprisonment.  I  asked  him  in  prison  why  he  had  taken 
such  chances;  he  replied,  "I  was  cold  and  hungry  and  my 
family  were  in  such  desperate  circumstances  when  the 
temptation  appealed  to  me,  I  could  not  resist  it.  That's 
all." 

In  a  large  number  of  cases  I  have  found  that  men  and 
women  were  not  thieves  by  choice.  They  were  before  the 
law  guilty  only  technically  for  some  crime,  but  were  driven 
to  it  by  social  conditions  and  man's  inhumanity  to  man ! 
When  you  come  to  judge  all  such  "criminals"  be  charit- 
able, and  put  yourself  in  their  place  and  ask  What  would 
you  do  under  the  same  circumstances? 

There  is  an  organization  in  this  city  called  the  Charity 
Society.  They  receive  a  good  deal  of  money  during  the 
year  for  charity!  Mr.  John  S.  Kennedy  gives  them  free 
rent  in  his  building.  What  charitable  work  they  have  ever 
done  to  aid  the  worthy  poor  we  have  never  been  able  to 
learn.  But  some  people  have  not  a  very  high  opinion  of 
them.  When  I  have  urged  people  to  seek  relief  from  them 
(before  I  made  an  investigation  for  myself  and  learned 
what  they  are)  they  replied  that  they  would  prefer  to  jump 
into  the  river.  Others  in  speaking  of  the  society  use  red 
profanity  which  would  not  look  well  in  print.  Ask  a  po- 
liceman, priest,  rabbi,  minister  of  the  gospel,  mission  work- 
er. They  may  be  able  to  tell  what  charity  is  given  by  this 
society  to  the  poor  of  New  York.  I  know  the  society  for 
improving  the  conditions  of  the  poor,  the  Children's  Aid 
Society  and  others  that  do  a  good  work.  Heaven  bless 
them  and  fill  their  treasuries! 


Copyright   Pach  Bros.,  New  York 


Ex-police  Commissioner  Bingham,  of  New  York. 


General  Theo.  Alfred  Bingham,  born  at  Andover,  Tolland  Co.,  Conn.,  May  14, 
1  rraduated  at  West  Poinl  Military  Academy  1 879  and  Yale  University  1896. 
For  several  years  hi- lias  been  in  charge  of  Public  Buildings  and  grounds  in 
Washington,  D.  C.  Was  appointed  Police  Commissioner,  by  Mayor  McClellan, 
January,  1906.  He  brought  the  Police  up  to  a  higher  perfectioti  than  evei  be- 
fore. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  157 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

HOW  YOUNG  MEN  BREAK  INTO  PRISON 

One  of  the  most  startling  facts  that  face  the  present  day 
reformer  is  the  great  number  of  strong,  healthy  and  well 
educated  young  men  that  really  break  into  prison,  as  that 
is  the  only  way  you  can  speak  of  it.  Various  reasons  are 
given  for  this  singular  condition  of  things  but  which  do  not 
satisfactorily  explain  the  difficult  problem.  We  believe  the 
question  is  worthy  of  the  highest  consideration  which  the 
State  can  bestow  upon  it.  It  is  everywhere  demanding  a 
solution  at  the  hands  of  Christian  philanthropists  and 
statesmen.  When  we  think  of  the  tens  of  thousands  of 
young  men  in  this  and  other  large  cities,  who  are  leading 
prodigal  lives,  uncared  for  by  their  fellow  men,  and  little 
sought  after  by  Christian  agencies,  unless  they  are  well 
dressed  and  have  plenty  of  money;  then  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
and  the  Club  will  compete  for  their  patronage.  But  if  they 
are  poor  nobody  cares  for  them,  and  if  they  happen  to 
wander  into  a  Christian  Reading  Room,  they  will  be  told 
that  such  a  place  is  only  for  members,  and  not  for  them. 

Many  of  these  young  men  come  from  country  homes  in 
search  of  employment,  and  not  finding  any,  after  they  have 
spent  their  capital,  they  eke  out  a  precarious  living  by  do- 
ing odd  jobs  or  even  panhandling.  After  a  time  they  be- 
come seedy  in  appearance;  sever  all  connection  with  the 
loved  ones  at  home;  lose  all  ambition  of  ever  amounting 
to  anything  or  securing  employment.  Then  they  mingle 
with  criminals,  who  present  to  them  some  "rosy  scheme" 
to  get  ready  money  without  working  for  it,  and  when  they 


158  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

seek  to  carry  it  out,  find  themselves  in  the  meshes  of  the 
law.  Now  they  have  discovered  by  experience  that  "The 
way  of  the  transgressor  is  hard."  If,  however,  they  had 
sought  steadily  to  do  what  was  right  by  shunning  the  saloon 
and  the  companionship  of  evildoers,  the  result  of  their 
brief  city  life  would  have  been  different. 

Some  time  ago  a  young  man,  twenty-seven  years  of  age, 
was  in  the  Jefferson  Market  Police  Court.  He  had  wan- 
dered to  New  York  months  ago  from  a  New  England  home. 
Although  a  graduate  of  Yale,  and  a  law  student,  filling 
many  important  and  lucrative  positions,  yet  he  lost  all  by 
strong  drink,  cocaine  and  evil  companions.  As  soon  as  he 
was  sobered  he  found  himself  to  be  a  moral  and  physical 
wreck. 

It  seems  that  when  he  had  exhausted  all  his  resources 
and  his  clothing  became  torn  and  tattered,  the  only  employ- 
ment he  could  find  was  to  play  the  piano  in  a  Tenderloin 
saloon  for  free  "drinks." 

Perhaps  the  reason  that  so  many  young  men  really  break 
into  prison  is  that  they  have  acquired  sinful  habits  in  their 
youth  which  have  grown  on  them  with  the  years.  They 
refuse  any  longer  the  advice  of  friends  and  are  unwilling 
to  learn  by  experience,  and  like  men  void  of  understanding, 
they  rush  into  crime,  like  the  horse  into  battle,  only  to  meet 
disaster. 

Some  of  the  larger  Rescue  missions  of  the  city  do  a  vast 
amount  of  good  in  caring  for  these  young  men.  But  many 
are  "pauperized"  and  in  the  end  become  chronic  panhand- 
lers. And  the  same  "bunch"  is  found  in  the  missions  from 
year  to  year  and  are  no  better. 

Put  them  to  work  sawing  wood  or  breaking  stones  or  in- 
deed anything,  and  if  they  are  able  bodied  and  refuse  let 
them  alone.     Feeding  them  only  prolongs  their  misery. 

It  is  a  sad  fact,  though  nevertheless  true,  that  many 
young  men  do  not  learn  by  experience.     As  soon  as  they 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  159 

are  out  of  one  trouble,  they  seem  to  rush  into  another,  until 
Society  is  compelled  to  protect  itself  by  sending  them  to 
prison  a  second,  or  a  third,  or  even  a  fourth  time.  The 
reason  doubtless  for  this  is  that  the  young  criminal  in  a 
great  number  of  cases  gives  way  to  the  low  instincts  of  his 
morbid  nature,  or  he  has  acquired  sinful  habits  in  youth, 
'which  grow  on  him  through  life,  and  he  readily  gives  way 
to  them  when  tempted.  The  heredity  of  crime  is  simply 
giving  way  to  natural  depravity  that  has  never  been  curbed. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  70  per  cent,  to  75  per  cent,  of  all 
who  get  behind  prison  bars  for  the  first  time  are  young  men 
between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  thirty.  When  the  "round- 
er" puts  in  an  appearance  this  percentage  is  reduced. 
Nevertheless,  the  great  mass  of  all  first  offenders  are 
young  men. 

I  once  wrote  to  Superintendent  Brockway  of  Elmira  Re- 
formatory, whom  I  regard  as  one  of  the  best  informed 
penologists  in  the  United  States;  I  asked  why  so  many 
young  men  are  sent  to  prison  rather  than  men  of  maturer 
years,  and  he  replied:  "Young  men  between  the  ages  of 
sixteen  and  thirty  are  the  most  pushing,  vivacious,  alert, 
wideawake  and  daring."  But  though  this  reply  was  not  as 
satisfactory  as  I  should  have  liked  it,  it  explained  much.  I 
believe  there  are  times  when  temptations  to  commit  crime 
are  greater  than  at  others;  for  example,  when  one  has  been 
idle  for  a  long  time,  young  men  who  live  in  idleness,  or 
have  no  trade,  or  are  out  of  employment,  or  during  the 
time  of  financial  depression,  or  when  under  the  influence 
of  liquor,  or  when  one  has  become  improvident;  of  course, 
certain  associations  promote  crime,  such  as  bad  company, 
bad  books,  bad  amusements  and  bad  homes;  still  young 
men  are  the  first  victims  on  all  such  occasions. 

Among  the  great  generators  of  crime  to-day,  among 
young  men,  I  regard  the  gin  mill,  the  pool  room,  the  dive, 
the  play  house  and  the  vile  literature  that  gives  its  readers 


160  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

a  detailed  account  of  the  daily  murders,  robberies  and  oth- 
er crimes  as  the  worst. 

I  am  satisfied  the  Dime  Novel  and  other  yellow  covered 
books  are  crime  producers  and  generate  criminal  instincts. 
We  have  seen  men  who  have  become  criminals  in  heart 
and  mind  by  absorbing  criminal  ideas  in  bad  books  and 
papers.  After  reading  the  hairbreadth  escapes  of  Jesso 
James  and  other  noted  desperadoes,  or  how  some  stage 
coach  or  express  train  had  been  "held  up"  by  Western 
bandits,  the  mind  becomes  impressed,  fear  of  consequences 
is  driven  away  from  the  conscience,  and  the  individual  is 
ready  to  commit  any  kind  of  deed. 

Hundreds  of  young  men  who  are  serving  time  in  Elmira 
and  Sing  Sing  to-day,  lay  the  beginning  of  their  downfall 
to  bad  books  and  papers  that  demoralized  their  nature. 
Modern  journalism  takes  a  hand  in  ruining  young  lives; 
for  example,  when  a  murder  or  robbery  has  been  commit- 
ted every  detail  is  furnished  by  some  of  the  morning  pa- 
pers. The  ghastly  work  is  gloated  over,  so  that  those  who 
are  morbidly  minded,  are  for  the  time  being  hypnotized. 
The  papers  usually  make  a  hero  out  of  the  criminal  and 
hold  him  up  before  the  people  as  one  to  be  emulated, 
rather  than  shunned.  Under  such  circumstances  it  is  not 
to  be  wondered  at  that  young  men  become  criminals. 

Thousands  of  young  men  work  in  this  City  as  clerks, 
bookkeepers  and  salesmen  in  stores  and  offices.  In  most 
cases  the  salary  is  very  small — enough  barely  to  live  on. 
Some  of  them,  however,  insist  on  going  to  the  theatre  and 
other  places  of  amusement.  Then  they  enter  society,  not 
necessarily  what  is  called  the  "four  hundred,"  but  society 
that  is  above  their  own  social  standing.  They  have  an  in- 
sane desire  to  dress  like  millionaires,  and  as  they  cannot 
Co  this  on  the  small  salary  they  receive,  they  feel  compel- 
led to  steal  their  employers'  money  to  keep  up  a  false  ap- 
pearance. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  161 

•  Many  young  men  are  in  prison  because  they  stole  money 
to  "gamble  on  margins."  For  a  time  they  used  their  own 
small  salaries,  when  that  gave  out  they  forged  a  check  or 
raised  the  figures  on  which  to  secure  ready  money.  They 
tried  to  get  rich  quick. 

There  is  the  case  of  a  young  man  in  Jersey  City  who 
was  arrested  while  he  was  being  married,  after  having 
stolen  from  his  employers  $6,000.  The  marriage  cere- 
mony and  the  entire  occasion  looked  as  if  he  belonged  to 
a  royal  family.  The  young  man  was  a  broker's  messenger 
on  ten  dollars  a  week.  His  work  was  to  carry  the  daily 
balances  to  the  Clearing  House.  On  his  way  to  that  in- 
stitution he  was  able  to  change  the  figures  on  the  balance 
sheet  and  pocket  the  money.  In  a  year  he  had  over  six 
thousand  dollars  in  his  own  name.  He  is  now  in  prison 
for  his  crime  and  has  long  since  discovered  that  "The  way 
of  the  transgressor  is  hard." 

Another  young  man  who  was  the  assistant  teller  in  an 
uptown  bank  stole  $40,000  and  the  only  excuse  he  gave 
was  that  others  were  doing  the  same  thing.  He  afterwards 
confessed  that  he  had  to  do  it  in  order  to  keep  up  "style;" 
he  lived  like  a  millionaire  in  fine  apartments  on  the  upper 
west  side;  his  wife  dressed  in  the  best  furs  and  jewelry 
that  his  ill-gotten  gains  could  furnish. 

Another  young  man  stole  over  ninety  thousand  dollars 
from  a  city  institution  and  fled  to  parts  unknown.  When 
an  investigation  was  made  it  was  found  that  he  had  lived  in 
an  elegant  apartment  on  the  West  Side  and  besides  kept  a 
team  of  horses  and  a  woman  whose  diamonds  were  a  mar- 
vel to  the  community. 

Another  thing  that  imperils  the  prospects  of  the  young 
men,  is  bad  company.  The  old  saying  is  still  true,  "A  man 
is  known  by  the  company  he  keeps."  "He  that  walketh 
with  wise  men  shall  be  wise;  but  a  companion  of  fools 
shall    be   destroyed."     Every   self-respecting     young   man 


162  NEW    YORK    TOMBS 

should  shun  the  idler,  the  loafer,  and  the  skeptic.  During 
the  past  few  years,  I  have  asked  hundreds  of  young  men, 
whom  I  have  met  in  prison,  what  led  them  into  crime,  and 
they  invariably  replied,  "Bad  companions."  When  the 
police  of  New  York  are  asked  to  look  for  law  breakers, 
they  usually  find  them  among  the  gangs  of  loafers  and 
hoodlums  that  hang  out  around  the  saloons  and  other  vile 
dens  in  the  city. 

There  are  five  hundred  thousand  young  men  in  New 
York  who  at  present  seem  to  be  'beyond  the  pale  of  the 
churches  and  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associations.  But 
they  are  not  hopeless,  nor  are  they  beyond  the  reach  of 
kindness  and  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ.  But  there  seems 
to  be  no  particular  agency  at  work  trying  to  reach  this  class 
before  they  have  become  tramps  and  criminals,  except  the 
rescue  missions.  It  is  true  there  is  an  eternal  struggle 
going  on  between  good  and  evil  and  it  is  becoming  more 
intense  every  year,  but  the  church  should  take  part  in  it 
and  seek  to  save  the  young  before  they  become  law 
breakers. 

Once  upon  a  time  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion was  a  moral  force  in  the  community  and  aided  young 
mechanics  and  store  keepers  and  clerks  to  rise  to  independ- 
ence, but  not  now.  They  are  now  working  mainly  to 
reach  rich  men's  sons.  In  some  Associations  rich  young 
"bloods"  go  there  simply  to  play  pool  and  when  the  place 
is  closed  at  night  retire  to  some  gin  mill  where  they  can 
finish  the  game.  But  what  about  the  tens  of  thousands  of 
young  chaps  who  hang  around  the  gin  mill,  simply  because 
they  have  no  money  to  pay  the  steep  price  for  a  member- 
ship ticket  in  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  or  respectable  church  club? 

Would  to  God  some  Andrew  Carnegie  or  Morgan  or  even 
a  John  D.  would  put  the  money  up  to  erect  a  half  a  dozen 
of  such  places  for  poor  but  honest  young  men?  Make 
them  like  the  Cooper  Union  with  a  gymnasium  attached. 


<%."*- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  163 

Serve  meals  at  cost,  have  an  employment  bureau,  throw 
out  a  shingle  inviting  all  young  men  to  come  in  without 
respect  to  race  or  creed.  If  you  speak  to  some  of  these 
young  men  about  the  twentieth  century  church,  they  will 
swear  at  you.  You  know  the  Church  is  closed  as  tight  as 
a  clam  six  days  in  the  week.  What  some  of  these  young 
men  want  to  see  is  persons  that  love  God  and  their  fellow 
men,  and  then  show  it  by  helping  them  into  a  better  life. 


164  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

OUR  POLICE  GUARDIANS 

This  is  a  practical  age,  and  the  people  demand  of  their 
servants,  the  Police,  practical  up-to-date  methods  in  the 
prevention  and  suppression  of  crime,  and  no  matter  what 
other  virtues  our  civic  guardians  may  possess,  the  old 
adage  that  "Prevention  is  better  than  cure,"  will  always 
remain  the  true  motto  by  which  our  police  will  be  judged 
as  the  real  protectors  of  our  city. 

Under  the  bi-partisan  Commission  which  controlled  the 
Department  for  many  years,  the  practical  work  of  the 
force  was  intrusted  to  an  experienced  officer  known  as  the 
Superintendent.  This  man  knew  every  detail  of  the  de- 
partment and  could  not  be  deceived  by  any  one,  as  he  grew 
up  with  the  system. 

During  the  past  fifty  years  New  York  has  had  some  of 
the  brainiest  and  shrewdest  of  Superintendents,  but  they 
could  not  bring  about  needed  reforms  because  of  the  con- 
trolling power  of  politics.  They  were  Superintendents 
only  in  name!  The  entire  inefficiency  of  the  police  the 
past  fifty  years  must  be  laid  to  politics  and  graft.  Rid  the 
Department  of  these  two  excresencies  and  you  have  one 
of  the  best  police  systems  in  the  world. 

During  the  past  year  the  sickening  game  of  politics  has 
been  played  to  an  excess  never  before  known,  so  as  to 
keep  in  power  for  four  years  more  a  gang  of  mean  grafters. 
How  long  it  is  going  to  last  no  one  can  tell. 

It  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  for  forty  years  or  more  300 
Mulberry  Street  has  been  the  "happy  hunting  ground"  for 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  165 

politicians  of  every  creed.  Some  went  there  to  exercise 
the  power  of  a  "pull,"  while  others  had  axes  to  grind: 
Here  the  ward  "heeler,"  in  the  language  of  the  Roman 
Tacitus,  "could  exercise  the  power  of  a  king  with  the  tem- 
per of  a  slave."  And  often  removed  faithful  officers  who 
would  not  do  his  bidding.  It  is  not  a  great  while  ago  when 
if  a  policeman  dared  to  do  his  duty  by  arresting  a  saloon 
keeper,  a  gambler  or  a  dive  keeper  he  at  once  became  a 
marked  man.  Some  politician  at  once  became  his  Nemesis 
and  "for  the  good  of  the  service"  had  him  removed  among 
the  goats  in  the  upper  Bronx,  or,  since  the  union  of  the 
five  boroughs,  he  might  be  sent  to  Far  Rockaway  or  even  to 
Staten  Island.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  he  wilfully  evaded 
his  duty  as  a  policeman  his  superior  might  prefer  charges 
against  him  and  if  found  guilty  he  would  either  be  fined  or 
dismissed  from  the  service.  The  life  of  the  faithful  offi- 
cer, therefore,  has  been  a  hard  one.  He  was  like  the  man 
who  was  between  the  Devil  and  the  deep  sea,  when  he  did 
his  duty  he  was  persecuted,  when  he  did  not,  he  was 
"broke,"  provided,  of  course,  he  had  no  "pull." 

The  Lexow  Investigating  Committee  showed  that  many 
police  officials  from  Commissioners  down  to  patrolmen 
were  in  the  business  for  "graft."  In  those  days  nearly  all 
promotions  cost  money.  An  inspectorship  meant  a  for- 
tune for  some  man,  a  captaincy  cost  as  high  as  $20,000  and 
even  higher.  But  the  bi-partisan  Commission  was  mainly 
responsible  for  this  shameful  corruption.  Many  high  offi- 
cials were  involved  in  the  scandals,  while  the  rank  and  file 
were  more  or  less  affected.  It  is  our  firm  opinion  that  if 
the  police  were  protected  in  the  line  of  their  daily  duty, 
freed  from  the  domination  of  the  ward  "heeler"  and  given 
to  understand  that  they  could  be  promoted  only  on  the 
ground  of  efficiency  and  meritorious  conduct,  no  body  of 
men  in  the  world  would  be  more  faithful  to  the  public  in- 
terest. 


166  NEW   70RK   TOMBS 

The  result  of  the  Lexow  investigation  was  that  nearly 
fifty  Police  Inspectors,  Captains  and  wardmen  were  indict- 
ed for  bribery  and  other  offences  against  the  law,  but  only 
cne  man  suffered  imprisonment.  All  the  others  fought  for 
vindication  in  the  Courts  and  succeeded  in  having  the  in- 
dictments in  every  case  dismissed. 

It  is  a  foregone  conclusion  in  the  minds  of  those  best 
able  to  judge  that  the  man  who  is  to  rightly  control  the  New 
York  Police  must  be  one  of  their  own  number,  an  experi- 
enced officer,  paid  a  good  salary  so  that  he  may  be  honest 
in  his  relations  to  the  City  Government,  and  just  to  the 
men  under  him.  Indeed,  the  only  way  to  keep  the  police 
situation  within  proper  bounds  is  to  put  the  entire  force 
in  the  hands  of  a  practical,  level  headed  honest  man.  Give 
him  a  free  hand  and  hold  him  responsible  for  keeping  the 
city  clear  of  crime.  Then  let  this  official  put  the  crime  of 
the  city  up  to  the  Inspectors,  holding  each  of  them  respon- 
sible for  his  own  district.  In  turn  let  the  Inspectors  hold 
each  Captain  responsible  for  the  condition  of  his  own  pre- 
cinct. When  the  Captain  of  the  Precinct  finds  that  he  can- 
not shift  the  responsibility  on  somebody  else  he  will  do  his 
duty  or  get  out.  Only  in  this  way  shall  we  have  real  police 
efficiency. 

Since  January  1900  the  police  of  Greater  New  York 
have  been  in  charge  of  single-headed  Commissioners;  each 
in  turn  ruled  the  department,  viz:  Ex-Senator  Murphy, 
Col.  Partridge,  General  Greene,  ex-Congressman  McAdoo, 
General  Bingham  and  Commissioner  Baker.  They  were 
all  good  men  in  private  life  but  some  were  sadly  deficient 
in  the  experience  that  pertained  to  police  matters.  Each 
Commissioner  made  serious  mistakes  from  start  to  finish 
which  would  not  have  taken  place  had  he  been  familiar 
with  the  routine  of  the  department.  And  each  Commis- 
sioner in  his  turn  complained  that  he  had  been  grossly  de- 
ceived by  the  higher  officials  of  the  Department  when  he 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  167 

tried  to  bring  about  any  lasting  reforms.  Had  these  men 
been  practical  policemen  it  would  have  been  impossible  to 
have  deceived  them. 

If  you  put  an  inexperienced  man  in  charge  of  a  railroad 
or  a  large  factory  in  two  years  it  is  more  than  likely  that 
one  or  both  will  be  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver.  And  every 
time  you  put  an  inexperienced  outsider  in  charge  of  the 
Police  Department  he  will  fail  utterly  to  do  the  best  work. 

On  the  first  of  January,  1909,  the  Police  force  of  Great- 
er New  York  consisted  of  1  Commissioner,  4  Deputy  Com- 
missioners, 17  Inspectors,  25  Surgeons,  91  Captains,  627 
Lieutenants,  585  Sergeants,  8,239  Patrolmen,  70  Matrons, 
194  Doormen,  together  with  10  others  who  are  classed  as 
telegraph  men  and  boiler  inspectors,  making  a  grand  total 
cf  over  10,000  in  the  Department. 

During  the  past  year  or  two  Commissioner  Bingham 
asked  for  several  hundred  men  and  $50,000  a  year  for  a 
Secret  Service.  It  goes  without  saying  that  these  Secret 
Service  men  would  be  used  not  only  to  watch  some  of  the 
men  now  in  the  Department,  but  the  blackhanders,  anar- 
chists and  other  criminal  conspirators  that  hang  around 
the  city.  But  it  is  not  more  policemen  the  city  needs  as 
much  as  the  system  thoroughly  reorganized. 

The  Parkhurst  Society  with  a  dozen  of  men  has  often 
been  able  to  do  more  for  the  city  than  a  whole  platoon  of 
policemen. 

There  is  room  in  New  York  for  hundreds  of  plain 
clothes  men,  to  deal  with  certain  kinds  of  crime,  like  the 
Secret  Service  men  of  the  United  States  Government.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  keep  policemen  in  uniform  patrolling 
the  city.  Much  more  crime  would  be  discovered  if  they 
vent  about  in  citizens'  dress.  We  would  like  to  suggest 
to  the  Commissioner  the  propriety  of  selecting  a  hundred 
strong-minded  women  detectives  with  full  authority  to 
make  arrests,  and  putting  them  in  those  localities  that  are 


168  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

now  infested  with  the  worst  female  characters.  We  be- 
lieve before  long  they  would  put  such  women  crooks  out 
of  business. 

The  Policeman  and  His  Work 

The  work  of  the  New  York  policeman  may  be  briefly 
summed  up  as  follows:  He  is  an  enforcer  of  the  law,  a 
protector  of  society,  a  judge  and  jury  to  settle  scores  of 
cases  that  must  be  decided  offhand  without  a  moment's 
hesitation,  a  preventor  and  detector  of  crime  and  a  sup- 
pressor of  lawlessness  and  violence.  In  his  daily  duties 
he  removes  obstacles  to  good  order,  stands  for  the  liberty, 
peace  and  security  of  the  citizen  and  in  general  looks  after 
the  moral  welfare  of  the  people. 

More  than  that,  the  policeman  should  know  the  charac- 
ter of  every  gin-mill  in  the  Precinct,  the  disorderly  houses, 
the  gambling  hells,  if  any,  where  the  crooks  hang  out,  and 
the  suspicious  characters,  who  will  need  continual  watch- 
ing, to  whom  he  should  be  a  constant  terror.  All  of  which 
means  that  it  will  be  necessary  for  him  to  patrol  his  post 
faithfully,  otherwise  he  will  not  know  these  things. 

The  law  gives  him  vast  discretionary  powers,  which  on 
the  one  hand  involves  personal  liberty  and  guarantees 
prompt  measures  of  relief  in  cases  of  emergency;  yet  his 
work  is  two-fold — administrative  and  judicial — to  enforce 
the  law  and  if  possible  prevent  crime. 

One  of  the  main  reasons  why  grafting  and  other  abuses 
continued  so  long  in  the  New  York  Police  Department  is 
on  account  of  the  "pull"  that  certain  ones  had.  The  police- 
man with  a  "pull"  has  been  known  to  neglect  his  duty  in  a 
most  shameful  manner  and  when  called  to  account  could 
snap  his  fingers  in  the  face  of  his  superior.  As  long  as 
the  District  Leader  is  a  power  at  headquarters,  all  the 
offending  policeman  has  to  do  is  to  "make  it  right  with 
him"  and  he  in  turn  sees  the  man-higher-up  of  his  own 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  169 

party.  Sometimes  an  officer  received  a  "make-believe 
reprimand"  but  no  more.  The  hard  and  fast  discipline  of 
the  department  was  only  for  the  man  who  had  no  political 
friends. 

The  total  police  appropriations  for  1909  is  $14,452,- 
028.85  besides  $400,000  for  pensions,  which  makes  the 
sum  total  expended  on  the  Police  of  Greater  New  York  for 
the  present  year  $14,852,028.85. 

The  sum  total  of  the  Police  work  in  this  city  for  the  past 
year  is  as  follows: 

Whole  number  of  arrests  in  Greater  New  York 244,822 

Convictions    140,904 

Of  the  104,000  discharges,  84,381  were  liberated  on  the 
preliminary  examination,  which  clearly  shows  that  they 
were  innocent  of  the  charge  or  charges  preferred  against 
them.  These  outrages  occur  all  the  time  in  New  York 
but  would  not  be  tolerated  in  Russia  or  Central  Africa. 
According  to  Commissioner  Bingham's  report  in  my  pos- 
session there  were  25,209  arrests  for  felonies,  but  only 
6,099  convictions.  This  shows  that  19,110  crooks  got 
clear.  That  is  to  say,  the  crimes  were  committed  but  the 
crooks  slipped  away.  Any  one  who  will  carefully  examine 
the  report  will  see  at  a  glance  that  by  far  the  larger  num- 
ber of  arrests  were  for  minor  offences.  Push  cart  peddlers 
are  arrested  daily  for  the  crime  (?)  of  standing  longer 
than  ten  minutes  in  one  place.  And  a  multitude  of  boys 
for  playing  ball  on  the  street,  but  the  unterrified  criminal 
remains  at  large. 

On  account  of  some  differences  of  opinion  between 
Mayor  McClellan  and  Commissioner  Bingham  over  the 
Duffy  case,  the  Mayor  ousted  Bingham  on  the  last  of  June 
and  put  in  his  place  Deputy  Commissioner  Baker  of  Brook- 
lyn. Commissioner  Bingham  may  have  some  peculiar 
ways  about  him  but  other  than  that  the  common  opinion  of 
the  best  people  in  every  grade  of  life  is  that  he  was  a  fear- 


170  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

less  official,  and  more  than  that  he  raised  the  standard  of 
the  police  department  higher  than  ever  it  was  before.  He 
was  also  an  absolutely  honest  man.  In  this  opinion  we  be- 
lieve we  have  some  of  the  best  men  in  the  city  on  our  side. 
And  we  believe  his  removal  was  another  example  of  vicious 
politics. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  171 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  DETECTIVE  BUREAU 

The  main  spoke  in  the  wheel  at  the  Central  Office  is  the 
Detective  Bureau.  Less  than  sixty  years  ago  this  branch 
of  the  service  was  organized  as  a  separate  and  independent 
Bureau. 

Sergeant  Lefferts  was  one  of  the  earliest  commanders  of 
the  Detective  Squad.  This  was  in  1857,  and  he  held  it  for 
one  year.  Headquarters  was  then  on  Broome  Street. 
After  Lefferts,  Captain  George  W.  Walling,  afterwards 
Superintendent,  commanded  the  City  Hall  Precinct.  He 
took  charge  of  the  Detective  Bureau  and  held  it  from  1858- 
60.  Then  Chief  John  Young  took  charge  of  the  Bureau 
from  1860-67.  He  was  assisted  by  Sergeant  Lefferts. 
After  him  came  Capt.  Jas.  J.  Kelso,  who  held  it  for  three 
years.  He  was  followed  by  Capt.  James  Irving,  who  was 
in  charge  from  1870-75.  After  him  came  Captain  Kealy 
who  held  it  for  four  years. 

In  1880  Inspector  Byrnes  took  charge  of  the  Detective 
Bureau  and  held  it  twelve  years.  This  was  longer  than 
any  other  man.  During  this  period  he  completely  re- 
organized it,  putting  it  on  a  more  scientific  basis.  Byrnes 
was  followed  by  Captain  McClusky,  Steven  O'Brian  and 
Titus,  each  of  whom  held  it  in  turns.  In  1901,  when  Com- 
missioner Greene  was  made  head  of  the  Police  Department 
by  Mayor  Low,  Inspector  Brooks  and  Captain  Langan  were 
jointly  in  charge  of  the  Detective  Bureau,  but  the  former 
held  it  only  a  few  months. 

In  an  interview  with  a  well  known  Inspector,  who  is  one 


172  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

of  the  best  of  our  city  detective  experts,  I  asked  him  what 
were  his  methods  in  detecting  crime.  He  replied,  "I  have 
no  methods  but  hard  work.  Each  case  must  be  a  law  to 
itself.  We  have  no  cast  iron  rules  for  discovering  crime." 
Then  the  Inspector  went  on  to  say,  "When  a  crime  has 
been  committed  we  consider  first  of  all  the  underlying 
motives.  If  it  is  a  burglary  of  a  'hold  up,'  it  is  more  than 
likely  it  was  done  for  plunder.  If  a  murder,  it  was  doubt- 
less done  for  revenge.  If  it  is  a  case  of  much  importance 
we  put  a  couple  of  good  men  upon  it.  Follow  up  the  clues, 
search  the  pawnshops,  watch  the  haunts  of  criminals  and 
work  on  till  the  property  and  crooks  are  discovered.  Care- 
ful work  always  brings  good  results." 

"The  detective  methods  in  vogue  fifteen  years  ago,"  said 
the  Inspector,  "would  be  useless  to-day."  "With  the 
evolution  of  the  criminal  there  must  needs  be  a  change  in 
the  detection  of  crime.  Here  is  a  letter  from  a  fellow  in 
State  Prison,"  said  the  Inspector;  "this  fellow  is  willing 
to  'squeal'  on  his  'pals'  who  are  on  the  outside,  provided  he 
gets  his  liberty.  Of  course  we  cannot  promise  him  any 
such  luxury,  it  is  the  Governor's  prerogative  to  pardon,  not 
ours." 

The  twentieth  century  criminal  makes  a  business  of 
crime.  A  man  of  this  character  made  bold  to  tell  me  that 
he  had  been  a  thief  for  nearly  forty  years  and  he  meant  to 
be  a  thief  to  the  day  of  his  death.  He  refused  to  work  for 
a  living.  Pickpockets  and  thieves  of  the  lower  order  make 
a  business  of  following  circuses,  county  fairs,  picnics, 
races  and  conventions,  and  they  always  make  a  good  haul 
at  such  places.  A  few  days  before  the  Dewey  Parade  in 
this  city,  September,  1900,  which  drew  together  from  one 
to  two  hundred  thousand  strangers,  Captain  George  W. 
McClusky,  then  Chief  of  the  Detectives,  captured  nearly 
four  hundred  well  known  crooks  in  his  dragnet  and  locked 
them  up  till  the  "show"  was  over.  In  this  crowd  there 
were  tramps,  pickpockets,  sneak  thieves,  second  story  men, 
country  thieves,  professional  criminals  of  every  ilk,  includ- 
ing the  irresponsible  thief.     They  were  held  in  prison  for 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  173 

a  few  days  as  suspicious  characters.  After  the  crowds  left 
the  city  they  were  discharged.  While  locked  up  in  the 
Tombs  they  were  in  an  ugly  mood  and  abused  every  one 
in  sight. 

If  the  direct  perpetrators  of  a  crime  cannot  be  found  in 
•the  ordinary  way,  then  our  modern  Sherlock  Holmes  must 
fall  back  upon  "clues"  and  follow  them  up  to  their  legiti- 
mate end.  But  if  there  are  no  clues,  then  the  brainy  de- 
tective must  work  out  a  satisfactory  solution  of  the  mys- 
tery for  himself  and  solve  it.  The  method  of  Thomas 
F.  Byrnes,  who  had  been  long  and  successfully  connected 
with  the  New  York  City  Police  Department,  was  to  bring 
the  suspected  criminal  back  to  the  scene  of  the  crime  for 
sake  of  the  startling  effect.  If  an  atrocious  homicide  had 
been  committed  Chief  Byrnes  usually  took  the  murderer 
back  to  the  place  where  the  deed  was  done,  and  then 
watched  him.  If  a  burglary,  and  the  property  found,  it 
would  be  placed  before  the  suspect  and  be  watched. 

Criminals  are  made  of  different  classes  or  types.  The 
beginner  in  crime  is  often  a  petty  offender.  He  steals 
small  sums  although  never  arrested.  The  scale  is  a  de- 
scending one,  rather  than  ascending.  Few  men  leap  over 
a  moral  Niagara  all  at  once;  they  are  going  down  hill 
gradually  for  a  long  time  before  the  law  gets  hold  of  them. 
After  a  few  years  the  man  who  was  once  a  greenhorn  plans 
crime  like  a  general  who  plans  a  campaign.  It  is  then 
that  the  Department  needs  an  expert  Sherlock  Holmes  to 
capture  them. 

The  history  of  a  crime  is  often  full  of  thrilling  experi- 
ences and  when  unraveled  by  a  keen-minded  detective  and 
all  the  details  of  the  plot  laid  bare,  the  final  revelations 
show  it  to  be  the  work  of  a  master  mind.  The  great  crimes 
cf  the  past  hundred  years  were  not  the  work  of  ignoram- 
uses but  of  men  capable  of  commanding  an  army.  They 
were  brainy  criminals. 


174  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

In  the  Old  World  many  of  the  best  detectives  when 
searching  for  criminals  disgiuse  themselves  as  cabmen, 
truckmen,  and  collectors  of  old  clothing.  They  also  work 
in  factories,  foundries,  potteries,  coal  mines,  or  indeed,  any 
place  where  they  can  secure  a  clue. 

Detective  McCleevy,  of  the  Edinburgh  Police,  became  a 
rag  collector  in  order  to  catch  a  murderer.  He  went  along 
one  thoroughfare  for  several  days  crying,  "Rags,  rags, 
rags."  Then  he  entered  a  dark  alley  where  the  murderer 
was  hiding,  and  who  offered  him  a  bundle  of  bloody  cloth- 
ing to  carry  away.     After  this  he  secured  his  man. 

Some  years  ago  the  Pinkertons  took  a  tip  from  the  Old 
World  detectives  and  put  men  in  the  coal  mines  of  Penn- 
sylvania where  they  lived  with  the  miners  and  finally  cap- 
tured the  whole  band  of  Molly  Maguires  and  put  them  out 
of  business. 

The  Scotland  Yard  detectives  of  London  not  only  work 
among  various  toilers  in  their  efforts  to  discover  crime, 
but  keep  in  touch  with  30,000  crooks,  many  of  them  being 
ticket-of-leave  men.  In  this  way  they  know  where  they 
can  be  found  when  wanted.  The  movements  of  those  who 
continue  in  crime  are  watched  night  and  day.  When  a 
crime  is  committed  an  old  crook  is  arrested  and  unless  he 
can  prove  a  clear  alibi  he  must  stand  for  the  job. 

But  the  best  and  cleverest  detectives  are  said  to  be  the 
French,  if  we  may  judge  from  results;  and  the  reason  for 
this  is,  they  keep  a  register,  not  only  of  all  criminals  in 
France,  but  also  of  their  plans,  aims  and  movements.  A 
few  years  ago  the  National  Chief  of  Police  in  France  had 
the  names  of  20,000  depraved  characters  who  spent  their 
lives  in  crime.  At  that  time  there  was  less  crime  in 
France  than  in  any  other  part  of  Europe.  If  the  police 
will  keep  themselves  informed  of  the  movements  of  crim- 
inals they  will  know  where  to  find  them  when  wanted.  This 
is  the  secret  of  the  best  police  service. 

The  present  head  of  the  detective  Department  is  Inspec- 
tor James  McCafferty.  He  has  risen  from  the  ranks  and 
owes  his  present  position  to  Commissioner  Bingham,  who 
had  confidence  in  him  by  making  him  chief  detective.  Mr. 
McCafferty  calls  his  Bureau  the  greatest  detective  system 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  175 

in  the  world.  This  is  certainly  not  because  of  the  number 
of  insolvable  crimes  it  has  cleared  up  in  the  past  few  years. 
The  fact  is  hundreds  of  murders,  hold-ups,  atrocious  as- 
saults, robberies,  burglaries,  larcenies  and  almost  every 
crime  on  the  calendar  remain  unsolved.  In  all  serious- 
ness, the  people  have  a  right  to  ask,  what  is  the  matter  with 
the  best  paid  police  force  in  the  world?  Why  don't  the 
police  arrest  the  criminals  and  put  them  in  jail?  That 
is  certainly  a  fair  question. 

Some  time  ago  Coroner  Julius  Harburger  passed  some 
scathing  remarks  on  the  Police  department.  He  said  he 
was  tired  of  sitting  in  his  office  and  waiting  for  the  police 
to  arrest  murderers  now  at  large.  Then  he  cited  the  case 
of  Elsie  Sigel,  Samuel  Bersin,  Joseph  Pogano,  the  unidenti- 
fied woman  of  Thirteenth  Street,  and  Joseph  Juliano  and 
Michael  Millelo,  who  were  killed  by  "Jack"  Vigarato,  a  sa- 
loonkeeper of  Harlem.  He  told  also  of  a  woman  in  whose 
home  on  West  110th  Street  a  girl  died  after  an  operation. 
Reminded  that  he  had  recounted  only  six  murders,  the 
Coroner  remarked: 

"I  can't  think  of  the  other  two.  They  come  so  fast  it's 
hard  to  keep  track  of  them." 

"But  have  the  police  no  clues  in  all  those  murders?"  the 
Coroner  was  asked. 

"Clues?"  repeated  Mr.  Harburger,  "No,  not  even  a  sus- 
picion. They  'haven't  got  anywhere,'  as  Inspector  McCaf- 
ferty  says. 

"While  I  am  about  it,  I  might  just  as  well  tell  you  that 
there  have  been  130  murders  in  the  last  two  years  in  which 
the  perpetrators  have  escaped.  Put  that  down.  I  say 
there  have  been  130  of  them.  Doesn't  it  seem  fine  for  a 
city  of  this  size  to  have  a  police  department  that  can't  catch 
a  murderer  unless  he  handcuffs  himself  and  gives  himself 
up?" 

Then  the  Coroner  remarked:  "In  the  last  twelve  months 
more  murders  have  been  committed  in  this  city  and  more 
murderers  have  escaped  than  in  any  other  place  on  the  face 
of  the  globe.     Let  the  police  explain  that,  if  they  can." 


176  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

The  Stool  Pigeon 

An  important  link  between  the  police  and  the  criminal 
is  found  in  the  stool  pigeon.  The  old  saying  that  "It  takes 
a  thief  to  catch  a  thief"  was  never  truer  than  in  its  appli- 
cation to  what  the  ward  detective  calls  "the  stool."  When 
a  uniformed  or  plain  clothes  policeman  is  assigned  to  a 
precinct  the  first  and  foremost  thing  he  does  is  to  find  out 
"What  he  is  up  against."  In  other  words,  he  sets  himself 
to  study  carefully  the  situation;  he  finds  out  who  are  the 
thieves,  pickpockets  and  all  round  crooks  in  his  bailiwick. 
Then  he  seeks  out  some  one  of  this  class  he  can  trust,  and 
forthwith  makes  a  confidant  of  him.  Indeed,  he  enters  into 
a  regular  agreement  with  the  "stool"  of  the  district  or  ward 
that  in  return  for  "inside  information"  on  crookedness  he 
will  give  him  full  protection  and  even  immunity  from 
arrest.  The  work  of  the  stool  pigeon  is  to  associate  with 
criminals  as  a  sort  of  spy,  so  as  to  find  out  all  that  is  worth 
knowing  and  even  assist  them  in  crime,  then  report  to  the 
ward  detective. 

When  a  burglary  has  been  committed  that  baffles  the 
police,  one  or  more  stool  pigeons  are  put  on  the  case  and 
are  paid  for  their  services.  If  they  cannot  locate  the 
crooks  or  the  gang,  perhaps  they  can  tell  where  "the  goods" 
may  be  found  and  by  their  help  the  police  are  able  to  re- 
cover wagon  loads  of  "loot,"  the  accumulation  of  many  rob- 
beries. Some  time  back  in  the  seventies  of  last  century 
Thurlow  Weed,  who  exerted  a  commanding  influence  in  the 
counsels  of  the  Republican  party  second  to  none  in  his  day, 
was  riding  in  a  Broadway  'bus  and  had  his  gold  watch 
stolen.  Mr.  Weed  deeply  deplored  the  loss  of  his  time 
piece  which  had  been  given  to  him  as  a  present  by  some 
friends.  He  communicated  his  loss  to  the  police.  The 
pawn  shops  were  searched,  but  it  could  not  be  found.  A 
score  of  stool  pigeons  were  implored  to  find  it  without  de- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  177 

lay.  Then  one  of  them  found  the  man  that  stole  it  and 
requested  him  to  return  it  at  once  to  the  police,  which  he 
did,  after  which  the  police  were  highly  commended  for 
their  smartness. 

Some  time  ago  a  noted  forger  and  counterfeiter  was  sent 
up  the  River  for  five  years.  He  had  been  doing  "crooked" 
work  for  some  years  in  this  city  and  would  doubtless  never 
have  been  detected  had  it  not  been  for  a  "stool  pigeon" 
with  whom  he  had  been  in  prison  in  former  years,  whom  he 
had  befriended  not  long  before  by  giving  him  meals  and 
lodging  when  out  of  employment.  The  stool  pigeon  re- 
ported everything  to  the  police  and  the  old  man  was  caught 
"red-handed." 

As  a  rule  there  is  no  honor  among  thieves.  One  old 
criminal  who  is  also  a  well  known  "stool  pigeon"  is  in  great 
demand  by  the  police  when  out  of  prison,  but  he  is  hardly 
out  before  he  is  back  again.  He  knows  the  criminal 
classes  well  and  is  able  to  furnish  the  police  with  first 
class  information  on  crookdom.  And  they  in  turn  see  that 
he  is  not  sent  to  State  Prison  but  to  the  penitentiary  for 
short  terms.  He  has  sent  so  many  men  to  "do  time"  by 
the  information  with  which  he  has  furnished  the  police 
that  if  they  found  him  in  State  Prison  they  would  kill  him. 
A  traitor,  a  spy  and  a  spotter  are  always  detested  by  crim- 
inals. It  is  true,  stool-pigeon  ethics  is  not  of  a  high  order, 
but  what  else  can  the  police  do?  In  resorting  to  such  ex- 
pedients they  simply  fight  the  Devil  with  the  Devil's  own 
weapons.  Without  this  a  large  number  of  the  crimes  that 
are  committed  would  never  be  detected. 

Ex-Policeman  Bissert  who  had  been  sent  to  Sing  Sing  by 
Recorder  Goff  in  November,  1901,  was  detested  by  scores 
of  crooks  whom  he  had  been  instrumental  in  sending  there. 
After  reaching  Sing  Sing  Bissert  became  a  marked  man. 
Many  of  the  old  time  crooks  knew  him  well.  When  the 
Appellate  Division  decided  that  he  should  have  a  new  trial 


178  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

and  had  returned  him  to  the  Tombs,  he  made  the  remark 
to  one  of  the  desk  keepers,  that  he  would  rather  go  to  hell 
than  go  back  to  Sing  Sing  again,  as  his  life  was  made 
miserable  all  the  time  he  was  there.  One  who  was  then 
serving  a  sentence  afterwards  informed  me  that  whenever 
Bissert  showed  himself  in  the  shops,  the  dining  room,  or  in 
the  yard  his  associates  took  a  delight  in  "jeering"  at  him 
snd  calling  him  all  kinds  of  profane  names! 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  179 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  ROGUES  GALLERY  AND  THE  THIRD  DEGREE 

One  of  the  most  interesting  departments  of  the  Detec- 
tive Bureau  is  the  Rogues'  Gallery.  This  branch  contains 
the  records  of  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  criminals.  It 
is  only  within  recent  years  that  the  police  have  begun 
to  realize  the  importance  of  this  department  of  the  ser- 
vice. Not  only  do  they  photograph  and  take  measure- 
ments of  all  criminals,  but  since  the  time  of  Sergeant 
Thomas  Adams  they  preserve  clippings  from  all  the  news- 
papers which  in  any  way  throw  light  upon  the  career  of  a 
criminal.  These  clippings  are  kept  in  large  envelopes, 
fastened  together  by  rubber  bands. 

The  Clipping  Bureau  at  Headquarters  has  for  some 
years  been  in  charge  of  two  well  known  lieutenants,  Sher- 
idan and  Allen,  who  seem  to  have  a  special  talent  for  this 
kind  of  labor.  They  seem  to  be  walking  cyclopedias  of 
criminal  information  as  far  as  the  newspapers  are  con- 
cerned. 

One  or  the  other  of  these  specialists  is  on  hand  every 
hour  of  the  day,  assisting  the  men  of  the  department  in  giv- 
ing clues,  as  well  as  collecting  records  of  beginners  in 
crime.  Frequently  these  records  are  loaned  to  the  Judges 
of  Criminal  Courts  before  sentence  is  passed  on  old  of- 
fenders. This  branch  of  the  Bureau  is  over  thirty  years 
old,  and  is  of  immense  importance  to  the  department. 

Whenever  any  of  the  two  or  three  hundred  officers  of 
the  Detective  Bureau  make  an  arrest,  in  or  out  of  the  city, 
the  prisoner  is  forthwith  taken  to  Police  Headquarters, 
where  his  measurements  and  picture  are  taken  for  the 
Rogues'  Gallery.  And  all  this  is  done  before  they  have 
found   out  whether  he  is  innocent  or  guilty.     Indeed,  it 


180  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

frequently  occurs  that  the  pictures  of  innocent  men  re- 
main in  the  Gallery  for  years.  Once  there,  they  are  not 
removed,  unless  by  order  of  the  Supreme  Court.  But  if  an 
appeal  is  made  to  the  Commissioner  of  the  Police,  he  will 
remove  an  offending  picture  if  you  can  show  that  you 
were  innocent  of  the  crime  charged  against  you,  and  were 
never  arrested  for  a  crime  previously. 

Up  to  the  first  of  January,  1909,  the  total  number  of  pic- 
tures in  the  Rogues'  Gallery  was  as  follows : 

New  York,  82,363;   Brooklyn,  13,264;   total,  95,627. 

This  besides  over  7,000  finger  marks  taken  from  August, 
1906,  till  same  date. 

According  to  the  best  judicial  authorities,  the  police 
have  no  right  to  take  the  picture  of  a  man  accused  of  crime 
and  place  it  in  the  Rogues'  Gallery  till  after  his  convic- 
tion. For  "mugging"  Banker  Jenkins,  in  defiance  of  Jus- 
tice Burr's  order,  Captain  Kuhne,  of  the  Brooklyn  Detec- 
tive Bureau,  was  sentenced  to  thirty  days  in  Raymond 
street  Jail,  and  fined  $500  besides.  The  case  was  sub- 
mitted to  the  highest  court  in  the  State,  and  last  June  the 
Court  of  Appeals  decided  that  the  sentence  passed  on  the 
Police  Captain  was  just.  After  a  time,  "mugging"  con- 
trary to  law  may  become  an  unprofitable  business. 

The  question  as  to  the  number  of  criminals  in  New  York 
city  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  to  answer.  The  best  that 
can  be  said  is  to  offer  an  unofficial  conjecture.  We  went  to 
Police  Headquarters  and  presented  it  to  different  men, 
but  nearly  all  refused  to  volunteer  an  answer.  One  offi- 
cer said:  'if  you  mean  by  criminals  those  persons  who 
have  been  in  jail  all  the  way  from  one  to  ten  times,  but 
who  now  enjoy  their  liberty,  then  there  must  be  at  least 
seventy-five  thousand  of  such  people  in  this  city."  But 
then  this  is  only  a  conjecture.  We  have  no  means  of 
knowing  to  an  absolute  certainty  the  number  of  criminals 
in  New  York. 

During  the  fall  and  winter,  when  there  are  great  social 
gatherings  in  the  city,  thousands  of  crooks  invade  Man- 
hattan, and  live  at  the  best  hotels.  When  they  leave,  they 
usually  take  with  them  enough  money  and  valuables  to 
last  for  years. 

The  curiosities  of  crime  which  may  be  seen  in  the  mu- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  181 

seum  of  the  Rogues'  Gallery  are  worthy  of  careful  inspec- 
tion. These  consist  of  dark  lanterns,  jimmies  galore, 
sectional  jimmies,  and  ancient  and  modern  jimmies, 
knives,  dirks,  razors,  pistols,  guns,  gold  bricks,  burglary 
tools,  skeleton  keys  and  several  hundred  other  things  used 
by  criminals,  all  too  numerous  to  mention.  Many  of  these 
things  are  kept  in  glass  cases,  and  cannot  be  touched,  but 
they  show  the  ingenuity  of  the  criminal  mind  in  trying  to 
overcome  the  modern  barriers  for  protecting  banks,  count- 
ing houses,  stores  and  Fifth  avenue  homes. 

The  Third  Degree 

After  a  crook  has  been  arrested  and  brought  to  Police 
Headquarters,  and  the  authorities  believe  that  he  pos- 
sesses evidence  that  will  convict  himself,  or  that  he  be- 
longs to  a  "gang"  of  criminals  that  should  be  safely  land- 
ed in  prison  without  delay,  he  is  forthwith  put  through 
the  "third  degree."  The  men  of  the  Detective  Bureau 
make  light  of  this  star  chamber  inquisitorial  proceeding 
for  the  discovery  of  crime,  and  say  that  it  does  not  mean 
anything,  but  those  who  have  passed  through  the  exper- 
ience have  a  different  tale  to  tell. 

When  crooks  conspire  to  defeat  the  ends  of  justice, 
all  they  have  to  do  is  simply  to  keep  "mum."  If  there 
are  three  persons  in  a  burglary  or  safe-breaking  job,  as  is 
often  the  case,  and  one  gets  caught,  the  other  two  pool  their 
interests  and  secure  him  a  lawyer. 

As  soon  as  the  police  have  reason  to  believe  that  the 
man  under  arrest  is  concealing  valuable  information,  he 
is  taken  to  Police  Headquarters  on  a  short  commitment. 
Perhaps  they  may  put  some  wise  "guy,"  or  "stool  pigeon" 
in  the  cell  with  him  to  get  him  to  make  a  damaging  state- 
ment when  he  is  off  his  guard.  As  near  as  can  be  learned 
From  various  sources,  the  "third  degree"  is  in  the  nature 
of  a  rigid  examination,  perhaps  like  the  torture  which  is 
still  practised  on  "suspects"  in  China,  Russia  and  Turkey, 
to  draw  out  a  confession  of  guilt,  even  where  none  exists. 
I  asked  several  crooks  to  explain  to  me  the  nature  of  the 
third  degree,  all  of  whom  claimed  to  have  gone  through 


182  NEW   YORK  TOMBS 

the  experience  at  different  times.  When  I  came  to  com- 
pare notes,  I  found  they  all  told  almost  the  identical  story. 

A  man  who  spent  more  than  two  years  in  the  Tombs  on 
a  murder  charge  was  put  through  the  "third  degree"  both 
in  the  Fifth  Street  Station  House  and  at  Police  Headquar- 
ters. It  is  not  customary  to  put  a  man  through  the  third 
degree  in  the  station  house,  but  this  man  claims  to  have 
been  an  exception.  The  crook  in  question  spent  several 
nights  in  the  cells  in  the  Fifth  Street  House,  and  spoke 
from  experience.  On  the  morning  of  the  day  when  he  was 
taken  to  300  Mulberry  street,  he  said  two  plain  clothes  men 
took  him  from  a  cell  in  the  basement,  and  forthwith 
boxed  his  ears  and  cuffed  him  unmercifully  over  the  face 
for  five  minutes,  or  until  he  became  greatly  excited  and 
almost  insane!  After  this,  he  was  taken  upstairs  to  a 
room,  a  veritable  sweat-box,  where  he  was  "piled"  with 
questions,  one  after  another,  for  an  hour,  for  the  purpose, 
if  possible,  of  making  him  contradict  himself.  All  the  an- 
swers he  gave  during  this  star-chamber  investigation  were 
taken  down,  and  he  was  then  compelled  to  sign,  or  else 
have  his  face  and  ears  boxed  a  second  time.  In  reality  the 
signing  of  this  document  made  him  the  author  of  a  crime. 
In  other  words,  the  "third  degree"  is  simply  giving  to  a 
crook  a  most  unmerciful  cuffing  and  abusing,  till  his  eyes 
are  all  discolored,  and  his  face  is  covered  with  blood,  and 
he  is  more  silly  than  sane.  This  is  done  that  he  may  confess 
all  the  details  of  his  crime,  and  become  an  informer  on  those 
who  were  in  the  job  with  him.  This  method  is  the  torture 
of  the  Orient,  the  thumbscrews  of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  is 
cruel  and  diabolical. 

Central  Office  men  have  said  that  the  third  degree  was 
one  of  Inspector  Byrnes'  "hobbies,"  as  he  resorted  to  it  on 
all  occasions. 

When  it  began  to  leak  out  in  1884  that  Jake  Sharp  had 
bribed  the  Board  of  Aldermen  to  transfer  to  his  company 
the  Broadway  franchise,  it  was  found  most  difficult  to  se- 
cure any  evidence  to  connect  the  guilty  ones  with  the 
crime.  Inspector  Byrnes,  who  was  in  the  Detective  De- 
partment at  the  time,  devised  means  whereby  he  was  able 
with  the  aid  of  some  of  his  men,  to  entice  one  of  the 
"boodlers"  to  a  Sixth  avenue  restaurant,  where  the  flow 
of  wine  unloosed  his  tongue,  and  where  he  admitted  that 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  183 

he  had  sold  his  vote  to  Jake  Sharp  for  five  thousand  dol- 
lars. Inspector  Byrnes,  who  was  on  the  premises  behind 
a  screen,  hidden  from  view,  had  all  the  admissions  taken 
down,  and  they  were  used  to  convict  the  "boodler"  and 
send  him  to  State  Prison. 

After  this  "boodler's"  arrest,  and  he  was  taken  to  Head- 
quarters, Byrnes  put  him  through  the  "third  degree"; 
when  he  saw  the  answers  and  admissions  he  had  made  in 
the  Sixth  avenue  restaurant  in  cold  type,  he  broke  down. 

Whether  the  police  are  justified  for  the  various  uses 
to  which  they  put  the  "third  degree"  in  ferreting  out 
crime,  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  state.  When  I  asked  a 
"cop"  why  they  hit  those  fellows  who  passed  through  the 
"third  degree,"  he  replied:  "You  know  crooks  are  the 
worst  kind  of  liars;  unless  the  police  gave  them  a  mod- 
erate cuffing,  they  would  tell  them  a  fake  story  which  it 
would  be  a  waste  of  time  to  listen  to." 

Some  men  do  not  blame  the  police  for  a  moderate  use 
of  the  "third  degree"  in  order  to  discover  crime,  but  where 
to  draw  the  line  is  a  most  difficult  thing.  Judging  from 
Professor  Munsterburg's  protest  against  the  "third  de- 
gree" in  his  book,  "On  the  Witness  Stand,"  Germany  seems 
to  have  a  more  diabolical  thumbscrew  system  of  the  "third 
degree"  than  New  York.    Says  the  German  professor: 

"There  are  no  longer  any  thumbscrews,  but  the  lower 
orders  of  the  police  have  still  uncounted  means  to  make 
the  prisoner's  life  uncomfortable  and  perhaps  intolerable, 
and  to  break  down  his  energy.  A  rat  put  secretly  into  a 
woman's  cell  may  exhaust  her  nervous  system  and  her 
inner  strength  till  she  is  unable  to  stick  to  her  story.  The 
dazzling  light,  and  the  cold-water  hose,  and  the  secret  blow 
still  seem  to  serve,  even  if  nine-tenths  of  the  newspaper 
stories  of  the  'third  degree'  are  exaggrated.  Worst  of  all 
are  the  brutal  shocks  given  with  fiendish  cruelty  to  the  ter- 
rified imagination  of  the  suspect.  Decent  public  opinion 
stands  firmly  again  such  barbarism;  and  this  opposition 
springs  not  only  from  sentimental  horror  and  from 
aesthetic  disgust;  stronger,  perhaps,  than  either  of  these 
is  the  instinctive  conviction  that  the  method  is  ineffective 
in  bringing  out  the  real  truth.  At  all  times  innocent  men 
have  been  accused  by  the  tortured  ones,  crimes  which 
were  never  committed  have  been  confessed,  infamous  lies 


184  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

have  been  invented,  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  tor- 
turers. Under  pain  and  fear,  a  man  may  make  any  ad- 
mission which  will  relieve  his  suffering,  and,  still  more 
misleading,  his  mind  may  lose  the  power  to  discriminate 
between  illusion  and  real  memory/' 


.INSIDE  AND.  OUT  185 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  CITY  GANGS 

For  over  sixty  years  the  people  of  New  York  have  been 
afflicted  with  mercenary  bands  of  lawless  thieves  and 
hoodlums  who  are  known  to  the  authorities  as  "Gangs." 
The  only  justification  for  their  existence  is  robbery,  mur- 
der and  revenge.  They  fight  their  murderous  battles  on 
the  streets  of  the  city,  and  during  the  melee  assault  and 
rob  the  people,  after  which  they  flee  with  the  plunder. 
Whenever  they  get  into  trouble,  the  alderman,  district 
captain  or  some  other  ward  "heeler"  comes  to  their  res- 
cue, and  they  in  turn  do  good  service  for  him  on  election 
day  as  repeaters,  stuffing  ballot  boxes,  and  assaulting  vot- 
ers. Each  gang  is  supposed  to  belong  to  some  political 
party,  who  are  able  to  wield  considerable  "pull"  in  time 
of  trouble. 

More  than  once  they  were  responsible  for  a  reign  of  ter- 
ror in  many  parts  of  the  city.  They  were  known  to  the 
police  as  "gangs,"  perhaps  on  account  of  their  clannish- 
ness,  for  whenever  they  participated  in  any  local  fight 
or  riot,  they  usually  stuck  together  and  fought  like  tigers 
for  what  they  called  their  own  rights.  It  is  more  than 
likely  that  some  of  the  gangs  were  bound  together  by  an 
oath  which  placed  each  member  under  pains  and  penalties 
not  to  reveal  their  secrets.  Whatever  these  oaths  were, 
we  are  unable  to  say,  but  we  hardly  think  they  were  as 
rigid  as  the  oaths  of  the  Molly  Maguires  or  the  Mafia? 

The  police  records  of  the  old  New  York  gangs  of  fifty 
years  ago,  show  them  to  be  mercenary,  corrupt  and  dissi- 


186  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

patcd,  and  often  revelling  in  riot  and  bloodshed ;  and  when 
they  desired  to  carry  out  their  evil  purposes,  they  did  not 
scruple  at  robbery  or  murder.  For  years  they  have  had 
full  sway  in  the  city  on  account  of  politics,  but  when  their 
conduct  became  unbearable,  and  oppressive,  and  all  irenic 
measures  failed  to  break  them  up,  the  police  were  ap- 
pealed to,  came  upon  them  unexpectedly,  clubbed  the  lead- 
ers, and  sent  many  of  them  to  prison  for  long  and  short 
terms. 

The  most  notorious  of  these  predatory  bands  was  known 
as  the  Whyo  Gang.  They  usually  "hung  out"  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  the  Five  Points,  Baxter,  Leonard  and  Centre  streets. 
This  part  of  the  city  was  then  known  in  police  parlance  as 
"The  Bloody  Sixth  Precinct."  For  nearly  a  hundred  years, 
crimes  of  every  description,  including  a  large  number  of 
robberies,  burglaries  and  holdups  had  been  committed 
here.  For  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century,  the  Sixth 
Precinct  was  known  as  the  hotbed  of  crime,  and  the  Whyo 
Gang  found  it  a  profitable  field  for  their  labors. 

The  Whyo  Gang  was  made  up  of  young  pickpockets  and 
thieves  of  the  worst  character,  and  many  of  them,  if  not 
all,  spent  years  in  jail.  Two  leaders  of  the  Whyo  Gang, 
Dannie  Lyons  and  Dannie  Driscoll,  were  convicted  of  the 
crime  of  murder,  and  hanged  in  the  yard  of  the  Tombs 
Prison.  Lyons  was  executed  August  21st,  1886,  and  Dris- 
coll January  23d,  1888.  The  gang  had  robbed  and  mur- 
dered scores  of  inoffensive  people  on  the  streets  of  the 
city,  whose  untimely  end  will  always  remain  a  mystery. 

"The  Bloody  Sixth"  no  longer  carries  the  same  reputa- 
tion it  did  forty  years  ago.  No  doubt  much  that  was  said 
and  written  of  it  was  not  all  true;  nevertheless,  it  fur- 
nished more  murders  than  any  other  five  city  wards.  It 
ought  to  be  remembered  that  the  "Sixth"  contains  the  Five 
Points,  Mulberry  Bend,  the  Criminal  Courts  Building,  and 
the  Tombs  Prison,  where  so  many  "tough"  characters  are 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  187 

harbored?  The  population  at  the  present  time  consists 
largely  of  Italians,  Jews,  Polaks  and  Chinese.  It  has  a 
great  many  squalid  tenements,  low  dives,  groggeries,  gin 
mills  and  several  opium  dens. 

The  Slaughter  House  Gang  held  forth  in  the  Fourth 
Ward,  and  had  its  headquarters  over  a  squalid  gin  mill  at 
the  corner  of  Water  street  and  James  Slip.  It  was  run 
by  a  band  of  desperate  characters,  who  terrorized  the 
neighboring  water  fronts.  Captain  Allaire  took  energetic 
means  to  break  it  up,  and  succeeded  only  when  he  landed 
the  piratical  ring  leaders  in  prison. 

The  Cochran  Roost  Gang  held  forth  at  the  corner  of 
East  Thirty-sixth  street  and  First  avenue.  It  is  said  that 
this  gang  had  pledged  themselves  to  kill  policemen  on 
sight.  They  laid  wait  for  young  and  inexperienced  police- 
men on  dark  nights  with  bricks  and  stones  in  their  pockets. 
They  usually  hid  themselves  in  alleyways  and  flat  roofs, 
and  many  sanguinary  battles  took  place  between  them  and 
the  police,  in  which  they  were  usually  worsted.  Their 
headquarters  were  reached  by  climbing  a  broken  down 
staircase  or  ladder,  which  they  could  hoist  up  with  a  rope, 
which  led  to  an  old  shanty  on  the  corner  of  First  avenue 
and  Thirty-sixth  street;    hence  the  name,  Cochran's  Roost. 

Handsome  Harry  Carlton,  the  last  man  who  had  the 
"honor"  of  being  hanged  in  the  yard  of  the  Tombs  Prison, 
December  5th,  1889,  prior  to  the  installation  of  the  Elec- 
tric Chair  in  Sing  Sing  Prison,  was  known  as  one  of  the 
brilliant  lights  of  the  Cochran's  Roost  Gang. 

The  gang  known  as  "The  Forty  Thieves"  held  forth  at 
Forty-second  street  and  Eleventh  avenue.  They  had  a 
local  notoriety. 

The  Hell's  Kitchen  Gang  had  their  headquarters  on 
Thirty-ninth  street  and  Eleventh  avenue.  They  usually 
fought  negroes  with  guns,  while  the  negroes  in  turn  fought 
them  with  razors.     The  negroes  and  whites  are  far  from 


188  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

being  friendly  in  this  neighborhood,  and  many  battles  have 
taken  place  in  recent  years. 

The  Gas  House  Gang  was  on  Eighteenth  street,  near 
First  avenue. 

The  Poverty  Hollow  Gang  and  the  Dead  Rabbit  Gang 
were  both  on  the  East  Side,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Thirty- 
fourth  street  and  Avenue  A. 

The  two  murderous  associations  of  recent  times  are  the 
Paul  Kelly  and  Monk  Eastman  Gangs.  The  former  held 
out  on  Cherry  Hill,  while  the  latter  had  their  clubhouse  on 
Stanton  street,  near  the  Bowery.  A  noted  police  official 
of  experience,  in  speaking  of  the  many  efforts  to  break 
up  the  Monk  Eastman  and  Paul  Kelly  Gangs,  said  that 
when  these  murderous  ruffians  were  arrested  by  the  police 
and  taken  before  certain  magistrates,  the  "pull"  they  ex- 
ercised was  so  great  that  nothing  could  be  done  to  them. 
As  long  as  these  gangs  existed,  it  was  impossible  to  have 
an  honest  election  in  New  York.  In  later  years  they  be- 
longed to  powerful  political  organizations,  and  were  used 
for  the  purpose  of  controlling  the  city  and  State  elections. 

A  few  years  ago  Monk  Eastman  and  some  of  his  "pals" 
were  sent  to  Sing  Sing  for  a  term  of  years  for  assault  and 
robbery.  The  organization  is  still  in  existence,  but  is 
quiet. 

The  other  leader,  Paul  Kelly,  died  some  time  ago  of 
wounds  received  in  a  street  battle.  On  his  death  bed  he 
refused  to  say  who  shot  him,  but  he  left  it  with  the  mem- 
bers of  the  gang,  when  they  come  out  of  prison,  to  avenge 
his  death. 

The  most  recent  criminal  band  that  has  sprung  into 
prominence  the  past  few  years,  is  known  as  the  Five  Points 
Gang.  During  the  hot  summer  spell  they  start  out  at 
night,  robbing  and  assaulting  East  Side  storekeepers,  and 
people  who  are  asleep  around  their  doors.  In  one  night 
they  were  able  to  get  away  with  more  than  two  thousand 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  189 

dollars.     Several  of  the  gang  are  now  in  prison,  while 
many  of  the  leaders  are  still  at  large. 

Party  politics  is  the  one  thing  that  fosters  the  Gang  Sys- 
tem in  New  York.  As  soon  as  the  police  arrest  any  of 
the  gang  leaders,  they  are  aided  in  court  by  District  Cap- 
tains and  leaders  who  have  a  solid  pull  with  the  Magistrate 
or  Judge.  After  their  discharge,  they  repeat  the  same  law- 
lessness, until  some  person  gets  killed,  when  they  are  sent 
to  prison. 


190  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

CRIMINAL  TRIALS  AND  THE  GLORIOUS  UNCERTAINTY 
OF  THE  LAW 

Celebrated    Cases — Speedy    Trials    for    Homicides — Lax 

Conditions  of  Our  Courts — Greasing  the  Machinery 

of  the  Law — Crooks  at  the  Bar — A  Noted 

Criminal  Lawyer — Strange  Sentences 

Almost  every  year,  New  York  witnesses  a  noted  crim- 
inal trial,  which  frequently  becomes  a  sensation  in  the 
community.  For  weeks  beforehand  the  newspapers  give 
an  excruciating  account  of  all  the  horrors  of  the  case — 
involving  the  past  history  of  the  defendant;  nor  do  they 
fail  to  drag  in  his  father,  mother,  uncles  and  aunts,  be- 
sides his  business  relations.  When  the  day  of  trial  comes, 
if  the  defendant  happens  to  be  at  the  bar  for  murder  or 
some  other  noted  crime,  all  the  sickening  details  are  re- 
hashed in  the  evening  and  morning  papers.  Sometimes 
the  trial  lasts  from  one  week  to  three  months,  dragging 
itself  slowly  along,  till  everybody  in  the  city  becomes  dis- 
gusted. All  this,  of  course,  is  distinctively  American,  and 
as  the  people  call  for  it,  they  are  sure  to  get  it.  The  New 
York  editors  are  great  literary  caterers,  and  seem  to  know 
how  to  satisfy  such  depraved  tastes.  It  has  come  to  be  an 
admitted  fact  that  a  criminal  trial  in  New  York  is  a  most 
exciting  experience,  and  for  a  time  stirs  the  community, 
making  it  the  main  topic  of  interest  at  meals,  clubs  and 
society  gatherings. 

To  watch  the  selection  of  the  jury,  and  see  panel  after 
panel  of  intelligent  men  excused  on  the  flimsiest  grounds, 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  191 

is  enough  to  make  the  Goddess  of  Justice  open  her  eyes 
and  weep. 

During  the  past  twelve  years  we  have  witnessed  some  of 
the  most  tragic  murder  trials  in  the  history  of  the  New 
York  Bar,  in  which  money  and  brains  were  used  on  both 
sides.  When  Roland  B.  Molineux,  Dr.  Kennedy,  Albert  T. 
Patrick  and  Harry  K.  Thaw  were  placed  on  trial,  the  courts 
were  thronged  daily  with  gaping  crowds  of  men  and  wo- 
men, breaking  their  necks  to  get  a  look  at  the  defendants, 
and  using  all  sorts  of  "pulls"  to  secure  a  seat  in  the  court. 

And  as  the  jury  is  called  and  examined  one  by  one,  to 
read  their  real  character  as  depicted  on  their  faces  when 
they  take  their  seats  to  decide  the  fate  of  some  weakling,  a 
good  judge  of  human  nature  can  readily  discern  the  re- 
sult of  the  trial  long  before  it  is  finished.  Then,  listen  to 
the  testimony  that  is  presented;  hear  the  lawyers  wran- 
gle for  and  against  the  prisoner,  and,  finally,  watch  the 
judge  as  he  charges  the  jury,  and  then  see  the  prisoner  as 
he  stands  at  the  bar  for  sentence  or  acquittal.  All  this  be- 
comes a  fearfully  interesting  piece  of  realism. 

But  the  glorious  uncertainty  of  the  law  leaves  so  many 
loopholes  for  the  real  criminal  to  escape  punishment,  and 
the  innocent  to  get  a  term  of  imprisonment,  that  some  of 
the  rulings  made  in  our  courts  are  tragic  enough  to  make 
angels  weep. 

Some  time  ago,  a  rich  murderer  was  tried  in  this  city. 
His  defence  was  one  that  no  Court  in  the  land  recognizes, 
viz. :  the  unwritten  law.  During  the  trial,  one  medical  ex- 
pert said  that  the  defendant  suffered  from  "brain  storms." 
In  a  more  recent  murder  trial,  the  only  defence  offered  was 
"Confusional  Insanity,"  all  of  which  is  simply  a  foolish 
way  of  trying  to  "beat"  the  case. 

We  could  name  a  dozen  of  well  known  characters 
whose  crimes  have  been  heralded  all  over  the  land,  who 
were  sent  to  the  death  house,  but  after  a  couple  of  year?, 


192  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

when  the  Court  of  Appeals  decided  that  they  should  have 
another  trial  on  a  mere  technicality,  returned  to  the Tombs} 
and  after  a  few  abortive  efforts  to  convict  them  a  second 
time,  were  liberated,  as  the  important  witnesses  were  dead, 
or  could  not  be  found.  It  is  difficult  to  say  wherein  lies  the 
trouble.  But  with  our  present  elective  system,  we  are  apt 
to  get  some  very  poor  material  as  Judges.  They  lack  edu- 
cational and  experimental  qualifications.  Nor  can  we 
abolish  the  right  of  appeal  because  some  judges  make  fool- 
ish rulings.  With  such  judicial  material  on  the  bench, 
the  right  of  appeal  is  our  only  safety  valve,  and  must  be 
retained. 

There  is  a  widespread  feeling  in  our  day  that  many  trials 
are  only  a  huge  farce,  and  the  "unwritten  law,"  "benefit  of 
the  doubt,"  and  "long-drawn-out  hypothetical  questions"  in 
a  large  number  of  cases  are  allowed  to  defeat  the  ends  of 
justice. 

In  regard  to  homicides,  nothing  would  appeal  to  the  good 
sense  of  the  community  after  an  atrocious  murder  has  been 
committed  more  than  to  give  the  murderer  a  speedy  trial 
and  summary  justice.  It  is  all  "humbug"  to  keep  a  mur- 
derer shut  up  in  the  Tombs  from  six  months  to  a  year  be- 
fore trying  him.  When  he  goes  forth  to  trial,  if  the  wit- 
nesses are  not  all  dead,  they  have  forgotten  nearly  all  of 
what  was  once  fresh  in  their  memory.  Let  there  be  speedy 
trials  and  quick  punishment  for  all  kinds  of  crime.  This 
will  deter  others  from  following  the  footsteps  of  evil  doers. 
In  murder  cases  it  would  be  well  also  if  capital  punish- 
ment were  abolished,  and  life  imprisonment  substituted. 

In  nearly  all  the  advanced  countries  of  Europe,  in  crim- 
inal trials,  swift  justice  is  the  order  of  the  day. 

In  Great  Britain  there  are  no  long-drawn-out  trials.  Nor 
will  the  judges  allow  delays  on  mere  technicalities.  Each 
case  is  decided  on  its  own  merits. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  193 

As  a  rule,  the  presiding  judge  exercises  full  control  over 
the  case,  and  as  a  result  everything  is  done  with  quick- 
ness and  dispatch,  and  the  higher  courts  uphold  such  rul- 
ings. 

In  speaking  of  the  lax  conditions  of  our  courts,  a  re- 
cent writer  says:  "The  machinery  of  our  courts  seems  to 
be  passing  slowly  and  inevitably  into  disrepute.  Processes 
wrought  out  by  wise  and  noble-minded  men  for  the  protec- 
tion of  life  and  property  and  the  dispensation  of  justice, 
have  been  seized  upon  again  and  again  by  unscrupulous 
pettifoggers,  and  every  technicality  of  the  entire  legal  pro- 
cedure has  been  converted  into  a  loophole  through  which 
some  scalawag  has  escaped.  The  country  swarms  with 
unhung  murderers,  and  with  thieves  who  walk  the  streets 
at  noon  unmanacled,  who  ought  to  be  wearing  striped  suits 
inside  of  prison  walls.  When  murder  trials  drag  their 
weary  lengths  through  the  disgusting  weeks  and  months 
of  the  year,  only  to  end  at  last  in  a  new  trial,  or  in  a  par- 
don issued  by  some  sentimental  fool  who  has  reached  the 
Governor's  chair,  is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  hot-headed 
men  lose  respect  for  statutes  and  judges  and  begin  to  talk 
of  taking  the  law  into  their  own  hands?  It  is  high  time 
that  our  judges  and  lawyers  were  awake,  and  took  meas- 
ures to  reform  the  present  processes  of  criminal  juris- 
prudence so  as  to  make  the  punishment  of  crime  both  swift 
and  certain." 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  shield  rich  criminals  from  their 
just  desserts,  as  is  sometimes  done.  Punishment  should  be 
meted  out  to  all  alike  at  all  hazards,  else  it  will  have  no 
terrors  for  the  wrongdoer.  Criminals  must  be  impressed 
with  the  dignity  and  majesty  of  the  law — no  matter  what 
is   their  social   or  commercial   standing. 

A  few  years  ago,  Roland  B.  Molineux  had  a  hard  battle 
for  his  liberty.  He  was  always  brave  and  optimistic,  and 
believed     all     along     that     in     the    end     he    would     be 


194  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

vindicated.  He  must  have  spent  about  twenty  months  in 
the  Tombs,  and  the  same  length  of  time  in  the  death  house 
awaiting  the  decision  of  the  Court  of  Appeals.  As  I  had 
always  taken  a  deep  interest  in  the  young  man,  I  called  to 
see  him  in  the  death  house.  Here  he  manifested  the 
same  hopeful  spirit  he  had  shown  all  along.  During  his 
long  confinement  it  looked  sometimes  as  if  fate  was  con- 
spiring against  him,  but  thanks  to  his  gritty  father,  who 
stuck  so  nobly  by  him,  and  the  matchless  eloquence  of 
Governor  Black,  the  undisputed  Demosthenes  of  the  New 
York  Bar,  he  was  finally  acquitted.  In  this  trial,  which 
was  fairly  conducted,  Governor  Black  was  master  of  the 
situation,  and  conquered.  From  this  time,  either  in  civil 
or  criminal  trials,  the  Governor  was  the  peer  of  any  law- 
yer in  the  land.  It  must  also  be  said  that  there  was  another 
gentleman,  who  filled  no  inconspicuous  part  in  the  vindica- 
tion of  Molineux,  and  that  was  Judge  Olcott,  who  was  a 
peacemaker  and  diplomat  of  the  highest  order. 

Greasing  the  Machinery  of  the  Law 

Frequently  the  prosecutor  in  a  criminal  court,  under  the 
cloak  of  having  a  duty  to  perform,  proceeds  to  do  it  with 
the  vengeance  of  a  fiend,  and  the  bias  and  prejudice  of  a 
persecutor,  and  perhaps  with  murder  in  his  heart. 

Nor  are  we  without  numerous  instances  where  the  pros- 
ecutor or  some  of  his  assistants  have  been  known  to  "gear" 
the  machinery  of  the  law  so  as  to  convict  some  unfortu- 
nate of  a  crime  of  which  there  was  absolutely  no  evidence, 
except  what  was  manufactured  for  the  occasion.  In  doing 
such  work,  the  police  can  always  be  relied  upon  for  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  help,  which  they  never  fail  to  give.  Then 
there  is  in  every  community  certain  degenerates,  including 
emotional  and  hysterical  men  and  women,  ready  to  swear 
to  anything  asked  of  them,  and  who  spring  into  fame  dur- 
ing a  sensational  trial,  not  to  mention  the  professional  juror 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  195 

who  draws  two  dollars  a  day  for  sitting  around  the  court 
house,  who  is  largely  dependent  on  the  public  prosecutor 
for  his  sinecure. 

There  are  thousands  of  people  who  all  their  lives 
have  been  the  victims  of  cruelty,  oppression  and  malicious 
persecution,  but  real  justice  they  have  not  known.  There 
are  innocent  men  in  nearly  all  of  our  penal  institutions, 
who  have  suffered  because  of  false  swearers.  They  may 
appeal  to  an  Executive,  even  a  righteous  one,  who  has 
so  many  intolerable  conscientious  scruples  on  the  ques- 
tion of  pardoning  crooks  that  the  poor,  friendless  pris- 
oner is  allowed  to  rot  in  prison,  so  that  the  righteous  Gov- 
ernor may  make  no  mistake. 

But  the  innocent  have  this  consolation,  that  their  case 
has  been  sent  up  to  Heaven's  Court  of  Appeals,  where  in 
God's  good  time  a  just  verdict  will  be  rendered  in  their 
favor. 

But  what  a  crime  it  is  to  send  an  unfortunate  to  the 
Electric  Chair,  or  State  Prison  for  life,  or  even  a  limited 
term  in  jail,  on  manufactured  evidence  or  opinions  of  an 
alienist,  or  a  handwriting  expert,  who  are  given  large  fees 
for  their  testimony!  Handwriting  experts  have  made  so 
many  mistakes  in  the  past  that  it  is  absolutely  impossible 
to  believe  them.  They  may  think  themselves  famous  as. 
interpreters  of  dots,  curves,  right  angles  and  horizontal1^ 
lines,  but  they  cannot  positively  tell  whether  John  Doe 
or  John  Jones  wrote  the  document,  and  human  opinions 
are  not  evidence.  It  is  certainly  a  miscarriage  of  justice 
to  convict  any  man  or  woman  on  such  absurd  testimony.  It 
you  have  plenty  of  money,  you  can  prove  anything  yoft^g;; 
please  by  the  use  of  such  expert  testimony,  or  disprove  it. 
But  without  the  most  absolute  corroboration,  expert  testi- 
mony is  worthless. 


196  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

Crooks  at  the  Bar  ef  Justice 

The  day  of  judgment  for  New  York  criminals  usually 
falls  on  Friday.  It  not  only  brings  many  surprises,  but 
hidden  things  long  forgotten  are  brought  to  light.  Between 
the  day  of  a  man's  conviction  and  the  day  when  sentence 
is  passed,  the  officers  of  the  law  have  an  opportmrty  to 
look  up  his  record,  and  report  him  in  the  true  light  to  the 
judge.  When  he  comes  to  the  bar  for  sentence,  the  court 
has  his  life  mapped  out  on  paper.  As  soon  as  the  judge 
begins  to  question  the  prisoner,  his  character  for  truth- 
fulness is  put  to  the  test.  Crooks  who  are  as  a  rule  notor- 
ious liars  have  poor  memories.  No  matter  how  cumulative 
their  guilt  is,  they  are  always  innocent! 

It  is  interesting  to  watch  the  proceedings  when  soms 
scamp  has  come  up  for  sentence.  A  good  deal  of  stage 
work  is  done  in  Court  for  the  effect  it  has  on  those  present. 
The  female  relatives  are  on  hand,  weeping  like  steam  en- 
gines, while  the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  who  has  made  ma?y 
promises,  is  as  hard  as  a  stone.  Some  of  the  men  up  for 
sentence  are  salesmen,  confidential  clerks  and  secretaries, 
who,  when  they  lose  at  the  races,  steal  big  sums  from 
their  employers,  and  then  have  their  friends  "pull  social 
2nd  political  wires"  to  get  them  out  of  their  troubles; 
while  the  poor  mechanic  or  day  laborer  who  steals  eight 
or  ten  dollars  to  keep  the  wolf  from  the  door,  has  not  a 
friend  in  the  world,  and  usually  gets  a  "soaking"  when  he 
comes  to  the  bar.  Perhaps  his  wife  or  mother  has  beea 
to  see  the  judge  at  his  home,  where  she  has  created  a 
"*cene,"  but  it  has  done  no  good;  he  has  got  to  go  to 
prison.  Not  long  since,  Judge  Cowing,  one  of  the  best 
of  the  General  Session  judges  (now  retired),  said  to  a 
young  man  who  had  been  before  him  on  two  former  occa- 
sions: "You  have  been  in  Elmira  and  Sing  Sing,  and  here 
you  are  again.  Where  are  you  going  to  end  up?  Your 
mother  came  to  my  house  last  night.     Poor  woman,  I  felt 


Hon.  JOHN   F.  McINTYRE. 
A  noted  criminal  lawyer 


lopyriuht.    I.  &  M.  Stienberg,  X.  V. 

Justice  J.  A.  Blanchard 


Justice  J.  W.  Goff 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  197 

sorry  for  her;  but  you  show  no  feeling  whatever.  What's 
the  matter  with  you?  If  I  should  grant  the  requests  of 
friends  for  everyone  who  has  a  good  mother,  the  people 
would  soon  ask  me  to  retire  from  the  bench  altogether.'' 
This  is  true.  The  judge  must  send  the  young  prodigal  to 
prison   to  deter  others. 

Here  is  what  another  judge  said  of  a  young  man  who 
stole  $15,000  from  an  employer.  The  firm  had  onl> 
charged  him  with  stealing  a  much  smaller  sum.  but  when 
they  examined  their  books,  they  found  it  a  small  fortune. 
It  was  spent  mostly  on  the  races.  His  wife  and  three  small 
children  were  in  court,  asking  for  clemency:  "I  have  been 
on  the  bench."'  said  His  Honor,  'many  years,  and  have  had 
many  a  sad  case,  but  there  is  none  sadder  than  the  one  I 
am  now  called  upon  to  dispose  of.  The  great  trouble  in 
such  cases  is  that  you  are  compelled  to  inflict  punishment 
upon  people  who  do  not  deserve  it — I  mean  the  wives  and 
children  of  men  charged  with  crime." 

Noted  Criminal    Lawyers 

One  of  the  most  noted  criminal  lawyers  of  the  New  lfork 

bar  for  thirty  or  forty  years  was  the  late  William  F.  Ho*e 
better  known   as  "'Bill"   Howe.     I   have   often  heard   . 
plead  eloquently  at  the  bar.  and  with  great  success.     Houe 
was  a  typical  advocate,  and  put  his  soul  into  his  client's  de- 
fence.    He   was  humorous,   pathetic  and   magnetic  be' 
a  jury.    When  he  understood  the  case  thoroughly  be  beer    3 
a     powerful     pleader.       It     is     said     that     he     freque-- 
was  moved  to  tears  by  his  own  eloquence,  and  was  always 
able  to  draw  tears  from  the  most  unsympathetic  jury.     He 
was  called  bv  a  certain  District  Attorney  "'The  Weeping  Bill 
Howe.'* 

A  story  is  told  of  Howe's  tears  in  connection  with  a  case 
in  which  he  appeared  for  the  defendant,  before  Recor-ie- 
Hackett.     Mr.  Howe  had  just  succeeded  by  his  eloquent 


198  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

aided  by  his  tears,  in  obtaining  in  rapid  succession  the  ac- 
quittal of  several  men  charged  with  homicide.  The  Re- 
corder was  somewhat  disgruntled.  Howe  entered  upon  the 
defence  of  a  woman  charged  with  homicide.  She  was 
seated  with  her  child  on  her  knees.  While  Howe  was  plead- 
ing for  her  acquittal,  he  was  seen  to  scowl  at  his  client. 
She  gazed  at  him  in  blank  amazement.  Howe  moved  up 
closer  to  her  and  the  baby.  Suddenly  the  baby  began  to 
cry.  Howe  wept  as  the  baby's  screams  suddenly  ceased. 
Recorder  Hackett  looked  up  with  a  smile  and  remarked: 
"Mr.  Howe,  you  had  better  give  the  baby  another  jab  with 
a  pin." 

Stories  are  told  around  the  Criminal  Courts  Building  of 
lawyers  who  received  retainers  from  well  known  crooks  in 
the  shape  of  stolen  jewelry.  A  lawyer  who  used  to  be  a 
frequent  visitor  at  the  Tombs  defended  a  crook  in  return 
for  a  diamond  pin  which  he  had  received  for  his  services. 
After  he  had  convinced  the  jury  that  his  client  was  inno- 
cent, he  wore  the  stolen  pin  in  his  necktie. 

John  F.  Mclntyre  is  one  of  the  best  of  our  criminal  law- 
yers. He  always  puts  up  a  strong  fight  for  his  client. 
This  is  the  one  thing  that  appeals  to  a  jury.  An  intelligent 
juror  can  easily  tell  if  a  lawyer  is  simply  a  "hired  attor- 
ney" or  a  real  advocate.  Moore,  who  defended  "Doc"  Ken- 
nedy, is  another  of  that  kind.  When  a  lawyer  appeals  to  a 
jury  as  if  he  meant  it,  good  results  are  sure  to  follow. 
Among  a  score  of  noted  New  York  criminal  lawyers  might 
be  mentioned  Abraham  Levy  and  James  W.  Osborne. 

Strange  Sentences 

During  many  years  of  careful  observation,  I  have  seen 
seme  strange  sentences.  If  you  are  poor  and  have 
a  mean  enemy,  with  the  aid  of  the  police,  he  can  inflict 
preat  injury  on  you! 

I  knew  the  case  of  a  young  man,  who  found  some  worth- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  199 

less  junk  wire  outside  a  factory,  and  was  sent  away  for  a 
year.  In  the  next  cell  was  a  crook  with  a  "record"  who 
was  aided  by  a  cop,  and  a  crooked  lawyer.  He  stole  a  thou- 
sand dollars.    His  "bit"  was  only  six  months. 

Another  fellow  who  swindled  several  dry  goods  stores 
out  of  $17,000,  was  allowed  to  plead  to  petty  larceny.  He 
got  off  cheap — only  six  months. 

Such  travesties  of  justice  have  often  been  witnessed  in 
New  York.  Indeed,  men  and  women  have  been  known  to 
conspire  with  lawyers  and  others  to  send  innocent  persons 
to  prison,  and  they  have  succeeded! 

I  knew  well  the  case  of  John  H.  While  he  was  in 
prison,  his  wife  suddenly  became  the  friend  of  a  certain 
police  official.  After  he  had  secured  his  liberty  he  was 
informed  that  he  must  keep  away  from  his  old  home.  Soon 
fcfter  he  was  arrested,  charged  with  a  crime  of  which  he 
was  entirely  innocent.  When  he  went  to  Part  I,  General 
Sessions,  to  plead,  a  legal  pettifogger  who  was  sent  there 
by  this  man's  wife  stepped  up  and  informed  him  that  he 
would  take  his  case.  He  did  so,  and  without  consulting 
him  entered  a  plea  of  guilty.  He  was  then  sentenced  to 
six  years'  imprisonment.  He  found  out  afterwards  that 
it  was  a  conspiracy  to  get  him  out  of  the  way.  It  was  a 
success. 

I  recall  the  case  of  an  Italian  who  was  charged  with  the 
murder  of  his  wife.  He  was  caught  "red-handed,"  and  two 
of  his  children  told  the  coroner  that  they  saw  him  do  the 
deed.  John  F.  Mclntyre  ably  represented  the  people,  and 
Judge  Fursman  presided  in  the  Criminal  Branch  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  When  the  case  came  to  trial,  the  Italian 
children  had  evidently  been  tipped  off  to  forget  all  about 
it.  As  they  had  manifested  entire  ignorance  and  forget- 
fulness  of  the  crime,  and  could  not  remember  a  word  of 
what  they  told  the  police  and  the  coroner,  the  mur- 
derer was  allowed  to  go  scot  free! 


200  NEW   YORK  TOMBS 

We  knew  a  man  who  stole  $40,000,  and  yet  received  a 
suspended  sentence.  But  this  should  be  said,  that  the 
money  was  taken  to  save  another  man,  and  not  himself, 
and  the  deficiency  was  made  good.  Perhaps  it  was  only 
fair  that  the  sentence  be  suspended.  We  know  two  young 
men  who  were  in  the  Boys'  Prison  at  the  same  time.  One 
stole  $10,000,  the  other  just  one  dollar.  The  lad  that  stole 
the  ten  thousand  dollars  had  his  friends  make  restitution, 
then  the  complainant  recommended  extreme  leniency.  In 
view  of  his  former  good  character,  the  court  gave  him  a  sus- 
pended sentence.  The  boy  who  stole  one  dollar  had  been 
in  prison  and  was  out  on  parole.  For  this  new  crime  he 
was  sent  to  the  House  of  Refuge. 

There  is  the  case  of  a  young  man  named  Sullivan,  who 
stole  a  tray  of  valuable  jewelry  from  a  Columbus  avenue 
house.  A  morning  paper  commented  freely  on  the  "pull" 
that  gave  the  prisoner  a  suspended  sentence.  The  owner 
of  the  store  did  not  relish  the  thief  getting  off  so  easy. 
In  speaking  of  the  affair  he  said:  "The  next  time  a  thief 
visits  my  place,  I  will  make  no  effort  to  bring  him  to  jus- 
tice. What  is  the  use,  if  he  is  let  go  after  his  guilt  has 
been  clearly  established?  The  robbery  was  carefully 
planned,  and  was  well  carried  out.  The  Court  should  have 
given  the  thief   a  medal.     Why  not?" 

While  chaplain,  I  was  sent  for  by  an  unfortunate  girl, 
an  inmate  of  the  Women's  Prison.  She  had  the  usual  tale 
of  disappointment  and  misplaced  confidence  to  tell,  which 
was  full  of  sadness.  Most  girls,  strangers  in  New  York, 
and  far  from  home,  have  usually  a  hard  road  to  travel. 
After  I  heard  her  story,  I  remembered  that  there  was  a 
prominent  lawyer  in  the  city  that  came  from  the  same 
place  of  which  she  was  a  native.  The  gentleman  was  an 
ex-Assistant  District  Attorney.  I  felt  if  I  could  only  get 
him  interested  in  the  case,  she  would  have  a  better  chance 
of  securing  her  liberty.    I  made  a  personal  call  on  the  gen- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  201 

tleman.  He  had  spacious  offices  in  the  vicinity  of  Wall 
Street.  As  soon  as  I  had  mentioned  this  young  woman's 
name,  he  at  once  recognized  it.  Indeed,  he  had  been  inti- 
mate with  the  family  for  years,  and  was  willing  to  do  any- 
thing for  her.  All  of  which  was  very  encouraging.  I  then 
asked  him  to  make  a  note  of  the  date  when  she  came  up 
for  sentence.  At  my  suggestion  he  called  one  of  the 
stenographers  to  make  a  memorandum.  "Mary  Ann,"  said 
my  legal  friend,  "make  a  note  of  this,"  and  looking  very 
pious,  he  said,  "I  do  this  for  the  love  of  God;  yes,  I  do  this 
for  the  love  of  God."  By  this  time  the  clerks  and  type- 
writers began  to  snicker  and  laugh.  Just  as  I  had  expected, 
all  this  pious  talk  did  not  amount  to  anything.  The  poor 
girl  was  finally  sent  away  to  one  of  our  institutions. 


202  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

CRIMINAL  BRANCH  OF  THE  SUPREME  COURT 

When  on  January  1st,  1896,  the  present  Constitution  of 
the  State  of  New  York  took  effect,  there  went  out  of  ex- 
istence the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer — a  court  whose 
quaint  name  accorded  well  with  its  interesting  history  and 
associations. 

It  was  an  exclusively  criminal  court,  closely  allied  to 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  although  unlike  the  "Circuit 
Court"  not  strictly  a  part  of  it,  its  judges  were  Supreme 
Court  Justices  assigned  to  hold  it  and  interlocutory  pro- 
ceedings in  actions  pending  therein  were  taken  in  the  Su- 
preme Court. 

The  Supreme  Court  is  now  the  highest  court  in  this 
State  having  original  jurisdiction — that  is,  having  the  pow- 
er to  hear  the  evidence  in  and  determine  actions  com- 
menced therein  or  removed  thereto  from  an  inferior  court, 
as  distinguished  from  the  right  to  review  on  appeal.  It 
may  take  cognizance  of  all  manner  of  civil  and  criminal 
actions  and  proceedings  triable  in  a  State  Court,  except 
the  impeachment  of  public  officials,  of  which  a  quasi-crim- 
inal court — the  Court  for  the  Trial  of  Impeachments — 
alone  has  jurisdiction. 

In  New  York  County,  one  part  of  the  Supreme  Court  is 
usually  devoted  to  the  trial  of  criminal  actions,  and  that 
part  ordinarily  sits  each  month  in  the  year,  except  July,  Au- 
gust and  September. 

Cases  that,  because  of  the  nature  or  circumstances  of  the 
crime  charged  or    the    prominence    of    the    persons    in- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  203 

volved,  are  of  particular  public  interest  or  importance  are 
usually  tried  in  the  Supreme  Court. 

There  are  material  advantages  to  the  accused  in  being 
tried  in  this  court.  The  proceedings  are  apt  to  be  more 
deliberate.  The  justices  are  experts  in  Civil  Law,  and  have 
the  advantage  of  the  training  which  results  from  contact 
with  the  best  legal  minds  and  the  consideration  of  the  many 
difficult  and  important  questions  that  arise  in  civil  practice. 

The  range  of  the  criminal  law  as  compared  with  the  civil, 
is  very  narrow.  The  experience  of  the  practitioner  at  the 
criminal  bar  tends  to  develop  forensic  rather  than  reasoning 
faculties;  to  narrow  the  mind  and  sharpen  the  wits,  rather 
than  broaden  and  deepen  the  intellect;  to  make  alert,  cun- 
ning, effective  cross-examiners  and  wielders  of  technicali- 
ties, rather  than  strong  logicians,  quick  in  the  discernment 
of  fundamental  principles,  and  ready  in  their  application 
to  the  case  in  hand. 

Constant  contact  with  the  criminal  classes,  either  as  an 
advocate  or  in  the  exercise  of  judicial  functions,  has  a 
tendency  to  deaden  the  sympathies,  to  lead  to  a  complaisant 
view  of  the  criminal  as  something  inevitable,  and  to  an 
indifference  to  the  suffering  that  flows  from  his  punish- 
ment. It  results  in  an  intuition  and  a  preception  of  crim- 
inality in  acts  and  persons  where  it  frequently  does  not 
exist — in  an  unconscious  predisposition  to  discover  some- 
thing sinister  and  evil  in  what  may  be  innocent  or  merely 
injudicious. 

It  is  not  a  slur  on  the  gentlemen  who,  with  marked  abil- 
ity, untiring  industry  and  sincere  conscientiousness  dis- 
pense justice  in  other  criminal  courts  to  say  that  the  Su- 
preme Court  justices  who  hold  criminal  terms  of  that  court 
are  their  superiors  in  the  qualities  that  make  a  good  judge, 
because  of  their  wider  experience  and  consequently  better 
judicial  qualification,  and  because  of  their  freedom  from 


204  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

bias  against  the  accused,  except  such  as  may  be  tempera- 
mental. 

Variety  in  thinking  is  essential  to  the  best  mental  effort. 
Contact  with  many  minds  develops  the  mentality.  A  judge 
of  a  court  exclusively  criminal  meets  but  few  members 
of  the  legal  profession,  and  confines  his  attention  to  a  very 
small  range  of  subjects.  If  he  grows  intellectually,  it  is  be- 
cause he  wanders  outside  of  the  four  walls  of  his  judicial 
duties.  How  much  better  it  would  be  if  his  field  of  effort 
were  enlarged,  so  that  his  work  would  increase  rather  than 
contract  his  capacities.  It  is  not  for  us  to  suggest  a  rem- 
edy, although  one  could  readily  be  found,  so  far  as  the 
higher  courts  are  concerned,  in  the  merging  of  the  Court  of 
General  Sessions  in  the  Supreme  Court,  and  the  holding  of 
a  greater  number  of  parts  of  that  court  for  the  trial  of  crim- 
inal cases. 

The  Court  of  General  Sessions 

The  Court  of  General  Sessions  of  the  Peace  of  New 
York  County  devotes  its  entire  time  to  criminal  matters. 
It  is  English  in  origin,  and  was  established  by  them  after 
they  became  masters  of  the  colonies  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  The  prototype  of  the  Court  of 
General  Sessions  is  found  in  all  the  counties  of  England, 
and  is  known  as  the  Court  of  Quarter  Sessions.  Since  this 
court  was  established  in  New  York  County,  it  has  under- 
gone many  changes.  At  first,  like  its  prototype,  its  sessions 
were  held  quarterly,  but  with  the  immense  growth  of  crim- 
inal business  in  New  York,  its  sessions  are  now  held  daily, 
with  the  exception  of  Saturday. 

At  present  there  are  five  parts  of  this  Court  that  are 
in  session  nine  months  in  the  year.  During  the  summer 
months  two  of  the  Courts  close,  which  permits  each  judge 
to  take  a  vacation.     In  each  Court  the  District  Attorney 


•   INSIDE  AND  OUT  205 

keeps  two  assistants,  who  prosecute  all  cases  in  the  name 
of  the  people. 

The  General  Session  Judges  at  present  aie  as  follows: 
Judges  Foster,  Rosalsky,  O'Sullivan,  Mulqueen,  Crain  and 
Swann. 


206  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

SCENES  IN  OUR  POLICE  COURTS 

As  is  well  known,  the  Police  Court  is  the  sorting  Crimi- 
nal Bureau  of  the  city,  where  the  murderer,  highwayman, 
thief  and  burglar  come  to  be  classified.  It  is  here  that  the 
criminal  is  confronted  with  the  visible  forms  of  law,  and 
where  the  evidences  of  his  guilt  become  so  convincing  as 
to  be  conclusive.  All  over  the  five  Boroughs  of  Greater 
New  York,  the  Magistrates  sit  in  rotation  in  the  various 
courts. 

Every  morning  the  police  gather  their  prisoners  into  the 
court  "pens,"  where  the  Magistrate  presides.  After  this, 
the  prisoner  is  placed  at  the  bar,  where  he  is  compelled  to 
answer  the  question  whether  he  is  guilty  or  not  guilty?  In 
all  of  these  courts,  the  wheels  of  justice  move  swiftly 
against  wrongdoers,  and  frequently  so  fast  that  the  inno- 
cent has  a  chance  of  being  locked  up  for  several  days, 
without  redress. 

No  one  can  be  a  spectator  of  what  transpires  in  these 
petty  courts  during  a  morning  session,  without  being  deeply 
impressed,  not  only  with  the  character  of  the  business  done, 
but  the  variety  of  the  persons  that  come  before  the  court. 
That  the  proceedings  are  genuinely  realistic  goes  without 
saying.  The  work  done  in  the  Tombs  Police  Court  may  be 
taken  as  a  fair  example  of  what  is  done  elsewhere,  although 
it  usually  does  twice  as  much  business  as  is  done  in  any 
other  court  in  Greater  New  York. 

The  Magistrate's  Courts  are  supposed  to  be  open  for  bus- 
iness as  early  as  nine  a.  m.  and  continue  in  session  till  four 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  207 

p.  m.  Sundays  and  holidays  are  excepted,  when  there  is 
only  a  morning  session.  Through  the  earnest  work  of 
Judge  Whitman,  a  Night  Court  has  been  established  in 
Manhattan,  for  the  purpose  of  putting  the  professional 
bondsman  out  of  business! 

Lawyers  are  not  necessary  on  either  side  in  the  Police 
Court,  as  the  dignity  of  His  Honor  can  be  maintained  and 
the  interests  of  both  sides  conserved  without  a  paid  attor- 
ney. In  some  courts,  a  big  crook  with  a  crowd  of  ward 
politicians  around  him,  has  a  splendid  chance  of  getting 
clear,  while  the  innocent  moneyless  unfortunate  gets 
scarcely  any  consideration. 

Powerful  moneyed  interests  and  political  gamblers  when 
brought  to  court  and  backed  by  an  array  of  counsel  known 
to  the  judge  are  sure  to  get  some  consideration.  But  this 
is  what  might  be  expected,  and  often  strange  things  take 
place  in  the  Police  Court. 

"The  law  condemns  the  man  or  woman 
Who  steals  the  goose  from  off  the  Common; 

But  lets  the  greater  felon  loose, 

Who  steals  the  Common  from  the  goose." 

The  political  "pull"  has  always  been  a  power  when  ex- 
ercised either  by  a  Tammany  judge  or  a  "reformer,"  as 
the  supporters  of  both  classes  do  their  best  to  help  their 
friends  and  spite  their  enemies!  A  few  years  ago  I  suc- 
ceeded in  closing  a  notorious  gin  mill  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  city,  but  not  till  I  laid  the  matter  before  the  Police 
Commissioner.  Finally  the  law  breaker  was  arrested  and 
taken  to  the  Tombs  Court,  where  he  pleaded  not  guilty. 
After  a  brief  examination,  the  Tammany  Magistrate  dis- 
charged him,  when  he  learned  that  the  police  went  to  the 
saloon  on  Sunday  morning,  and  were  admitted  as  sailors, 
with  oilskins  over  their  heads.  Both  Commissioners  Mc- 
Adoo  and  Bingham  have  criticised  the  Magistrates  for  dis- 


208  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

charging  guilty  crooks  who  ought  to  have  been  sent  to 
prison. 

Not  a  great  while  ago,  a  religious  editor  went  to  a  re- 
form Magistrate  whom  he  had  known  in  connection  with 
charity  work,  and  secured  the  discharge  of  an  old  crook 
that  ought  to  have  been  sent  to  Sing  Sing.  The  preacher 
told  me  afterwards  that  the  work  had  to  be  done  not  in 
open  court,  but  in  the  inner  sanctum.  If  the  reporters 
knew  what  had  taken  place,  said  this  man,  both  of  us  would 
have  been  "roasted."  Investigator  Mitchell  has  been  able 
to  unearth  many  things  that  would  not  stand  the  light  of 
day.    But  they  are  done  with  the  best  intentions. 

Here  is  a  sample  of  Police  Court  realism  : 

"Patrick  McShane,"  said  the  Magistrate  to  a  Hibernian 
defendant;  "Patrick,  what  have  you  to  say  for  yourself?" 
"I  was  not  drunk,  Your  Honor,"  said  Paddy;  "I  was  only 
sick."  "Loan  the  city  two  dollars,  and  go  in  peace,"  said 
the  Magistrate. 

"Mickey  Maguire,  what  have  you  to  say  for  yourself?" 
"The  officer  found  you  trying  to  converse  with  a  lamp  post 
at  one  a.  m.  What  was  the  matter  with  you?"  Mickey  re- 
plied, "Well,  Your  Honor,  I  am  a  fireman  on  the  City  of 
Rome  and  me  ship  goes  out  to-morrow."  "Discharged," 
said  the  Judge.  But  Maguire  was  an  old  time  liar.  He  had 
cnly  been  liberated  from  the  Tombs  the  day  before  by  the 
help  of  a  missionary,  who  put  him  on  a  Pennsylvania  ferry 
boat  with  the  intention  of  going  to  see  a  "fake"  brother-in- 
law  in  Trenton,  N.  J.,  but  Maguire  returned  the  same  night 
and  became  helplessly  drunk  on  West  Street  and  was  then 
"run  in"  by  a  cop.  Keeper  John  Smith  was  in  court  at  the 
time  and  saw  the  whole  transaction  and  almost  fell  over  in 
a  faint  when  he  heard  Maguire  tell  so  many  lies  to  gain  his 
liberty. 

The  common  drunk  and  disorderly  cases  are  frequently 
disposed  of  with  lightning  rapidity  in  most  of  police  courts. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  209 

Sometimes  fifty  and  even  seventy-five  cases  come  before 
the  Magistrate  at  a  morning  sitting,  besides  a  dozen  of  fel- 
ony cases  that  must  receive  a  large  amount  of  attention  be- 
fore he  is  able  to  arrive  at  the  truth  and  decide  whether  he 
can  send  the  prisoner  to  the  grand  jury  or  discharge  him. 

There  is  a  woman  with  a  child  in  her  arms  who  charges 
her  husband  with  non-support.  Both  use  strong  drink  and 
are  to  blame  for  making  the  home  a  pandemonium.  The 
magistrate  tries  to  have  them  go  home  and  stop  drinking, 
for  if  the  husband  is  sent  to  prison,  what  will  become  of  the 
children?    They  return  home  to  do  better. 

Here  is  a  boy,  sixteen  years  old,  charged  with  stealing  two 
pounds  of  old  lead,  worth  about  seven  cents.  The  magis- 
trate tries  to  settle  the  case  with  honor  to  both  parties.  The 
complainant  refuses.  He  insists  on  "Shylock"  justice.  Fi- 
nally the  lad  is  sent  to  the  Boys'  Prison  in  the  Tombs.  Poor 
boy,  his  career  is  blasted  for  two  pounds  of  old  lead,  all  be- 
cause the  hard  hearted  complainant  shows  no  mercy! 

Frequently  there  are  lined  up  in  the  magistrate's  court 
thirty  to  forty  bleared-eyed,  disheveled  hair,  filthy,  tipsy 
men  and  women,  the  offscourings  of  the  city — made  so  by 
the  city  gin  mill!  I  have  often  asked  why  the  wise  sages 
that  run  our  Legislature  do  not  put  the  whiskey  and  bee- 
shops  out  of  business,  which  would  end  most  of  the  wretch- 
ed scenes  found  in  our  police  courts. 

A  frequent  matter  of  injustice  in  our  police  courts  is  the 
treatment  accorded  the  Italian,  Greek  and  Jewish  peddlers 
and  push  cart  men.  Although  they  are  licensed  by  the  city 
and  compelled  to  carry  a  badge,  hardly  a  day  goes  by  with- 
out a  score  of  them  being  hauled  to  court  on  the  most  flim- 
sy charge.  Indeed,  every  obstacle  is  put  in  their  way  to. 
prevent  them  from  earning  an  honest  dollar.  The  city  or- 
dinance prevents  them  from  standing  more  than  ten  min- 
utes in  one  place.  Often  they  are  arrested  before  they  are 
five  minutes  in  a  place.    If  you  stand  around  Park  Row  you 


210  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

can  sec  a  dozen  of  these  men  picked  up  daily,  while  the  no- 
torious pool  rooms  and  gambling  hells  of  the  city  are  in  full 
blast. 

Intoxication  and  disorderly  conduct  cases  receive  the 
least  consideration.  And  then  everything  depends  on  what 
the  policeman  says  against  the  defendant,  but  the  presump- 
tion is  that  he  is  guilty.  What  we  object  to  is  that  the  mag- 
istrate allows  the  officer  to  whisper  something  into  his  ear, 
that  the  defendant  knows  nothing  whatever  about  and  is  not 
related  to  the  case,  but  that  thing  is  usually  the  basis  of  the 
sentence.  I  hope  that  the  day  will  come  when  the  officer 
that  makes  the  arrest  will  place  the  rum-seller  at  the  bar 
with  the  "drunk"  and  make  him  responsible  for  the  "out- 
put" of  his  own  saloon.  Indeed,  whenever  a  policeman 
finds  a  "drunk"  within  a  hundred  feet  of  a  saloon,  it  should 
be  his  duty  to  arrest  the  saloon-keeper  who  sold  the  liquor. 
Why  not?  As  the  officer  on  post  gets  all  his  "drinks"  free 
at  the  saloon,  which  is  only  bribery  in  a  mild  form,  it  would 
be  manifestly  improper  for  him  to  give  any  other  testimony 
in  the  proceedings  other  than  favorable  to  the  rum-seller, 
and  this  makes  his  relation  to  the  case  nothing  short  of  a 
scandal!  Almost  every  day  some  persons  are  robbed  and 
flim-flammed  in  scores  of  city  saloons.  If  they  offer  any 
protest  or  even  ask  for  the  return  of  their  money  they  are 
forthwith  "fired"  to  the  street.  Sometimes  the  victim  is 
beaten  into  insensibility  and  left  bleeding  on  the  sidewalk. 
Soon  a  policeman  comes  along.  He  arrests  the  victim  and 
makes  a  charge  of  intoxication  or  disorderly  conduct 
against  him.  But,  strange  to  say,  nothing  is  done  to  the 
saloon-keeper  and  his  assassins.  The  bloated  gin-mill  keep- 
er is  allowed  to  continue  his  business  unmolested,  and  he 
waits  for  more  victims.  Good  hearted  people,  and  even 
ministers  of  the  gospel,  waste  a  lot  of  "gush"  on  the  poor, 
persecuted  saloon  keeper,  all  of  which  is  entirely  uncalled 
for. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  211 

Strong  drink  is  the  cause  of  more  than  two-thirds  of  all 
the  business  transacted  in  the  police  courts.  If  we  could 
only  do  away  with  this  curse  there  would  be  little  work  left 
for  the  magistrates. 

Some  of  our  magistrates  show  wretched  judgment  in 
handling  the  "down  and  out"  unfortunates  that  frequent 
the  police  courts.  Indeed,  several  sages  of  the  "reform 
brand"  act  strange  in  dealing  with  beginners  as  well  as 
habituals.  With  one  or  two  magistrates  almost  every  victim 
is  sure  of  six  months  on  the  island  and  there  is  little  or  no 
discrimination.  If  this  is  what  New  York's  famous  District 
Attorney  had  in  mind  when  he  said:  "To  h with  re- 
form," it  seems  to  me  he  was  justified  in  using  the  expres- 
sion. It  is  nothing  short  of  a  parody  on  justice  to  send  a 
poor  laboring  man  or  mechanic,  the  victim  of  the  ubiqui- 
tous gin-mill,  to  prison  for  six  months  for  simple  intoxica- 
tion. For,  as  a  rule,  while  he  is  in  prison,  getting  three 
square  meals  a  day  such  as  they  are,  his  wife  and  children 
are  starving  to  death  by  slow  process  at  home. 

Judge  Rosalsky  recently  discharged  two  men  in  General 
Sessions  and  scored  the  magistrate  for  such  a  foolish  sen- 
tence. There  are,  however,  honorable  exceptions.  Some 
of  our  magistrates  are  very  humane  and  show  excellent 
judgment  in  dealing  with  such  persons.  It  seems  to  me 
that  several  Tammany  magistrates  who  have  come  up  from 
the  common  people  and  live  in  touch  with  them,  show  re- 
markable good  sense  in  dealing  with  the  "drunk  and  disor- 
derly" cases  that  come  before  them. 

It  seems  to  me  that  Magistrates  Finn  and  Breen,  and  for 
that  matter  several  others,  show  good  sense  in  dealing  with 
unfortunates.  Instead  of  sending  every  man  "up"  for  six 
months,  as  some  reform  judges  do,  they  fine  them  a  dollar 
and  after  they  are  sobered,  let  them  go.  To  stay  a  night  in 
the  stifling  cell  of  a  station  house  is  punishment  enough 


212  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

for  any  man.  Such  magistrates  are  certainly  merciful,  and 
do  much  to  help  the  man  fallen  by  the  way! 

One  other  magistrate  who  seems  to  possess  the  judicial 
mind,  always  careful,  painstaking  and  just  toward  the  un- 
fortunate, is  Judge  Mayo,  when  he  was  a  City  Magistrate. 
He  is  now  a  Special  Session  Judge,  and  as  I  watched  the 
proceedings  in  the  Children's  Court,  some  time  ago,  where 
he  presided,  I  saw  that  he  still  holds  his  good  qualities! 

Another  gentleman  for  whom  I  always  entertained  the 
highest  regard  was  Magistrate  Poole.  I  liked  him  for  his 
open  and  sterling  qualities  and  often  wished  that  more  of 
his  kind  might  adorn  the  magistrate's  bench.  I  never  knew 
him  to  turn  down  a  genuine  case  of  mercy  in  the  hour  of 
need. 


Old  Police  Headquarters,  300  Mulberry  Street,  N.  Y.  City. 


The  Bridge  of  Sighs,  which  connects  the  Tombs 
with  the  criminal  court  building. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  213 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

SHARKS  AND  SHYSTERS  OF    OUR    CRIMINAL    COURTS 

Within  recent  years  there  seems  to  be  a  bad  odor  in  all  of 
our  Criminal  Courts  because  of  the  sharp  practices  carried 
out  by  the  "shyster"  and  "harpies"  of  the  law.  Most  of  these 
men,  if  they  are  not  inferior  in  calibre  to  the  other  mem- 
bers of  the  bar,  are  intemperate  in  their  habits.  And  they 
are  severely  criticised  by  friends  and  foes  for  their  unjust 
dealings  toward  their  clients.  It  is  true,  the  modern  lawyer 
is  brought  into  fierce  conflict  with  some  of  the  sharpest 
temptations  of  the  times,  and  are  frequently  drawn  into  the 
maelstrom  from  which  they  seek  to  extricate  other  men 
less  fortunate  than  themselves.  Since  William  Travers 
Jerome  became  District  Attorney,  he  has  sent  more  than  a 
score  of  lawyers  to  prison  for  various  acts  of  dishonesty, 
and  some  of  them  were  men  of  prominence  in  the  profes- 
sion. 

In  almost  every  walk  of  life,  if  professional  men  receiv- 
ed money  for  services  which  they  promise  to  render  and 
then  do  nothing,  they  are  liable  to  prosecution  for  false 
pretenses.  When  lawyers  treat  their  clients  this  way,  they 
have  much  harsh  criticism  hurled  at  them,  and  deservedly. 

It  would  be  hard  to  estimate  the  number  of  persons  who 
gre  continually  robbed  of  money  and  valuables  by  legal 
sharks  and  shysters  around  the  various  courts  of  the  city. 
Although  complaints  are  made  from  time  to  time  against 
these  thieves,  nothing  is  done  to  stop  it.  It  is  a  well  known 
fact  that  many  of  the  lawyers  that  hang  around  these  courts 
are  of  the  poorest  quality,  and  are  often  glad  to  get  what- 


214  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

ever  comes  their  way.  At  any  rate,  these  harpies  of  the 
law  soon  become  adepts  at  "bleeding,"  every  victim  that 
falls  into  their  hands,  including  the  prisoner,  his  family  and 
friends. 

As  soon  as  a  "shyster"  secures  a  victim  the  first  thing  he 
does  is  to  find  out  how  much  money  he  has  on  him.  Then 
he  demands  a  fee  for  his  services  which  must  be  paid  on 
the  spot.  If  the  prisoner  has  no  money  but  has  a  gold 
watch,  chain,  ring  or  other  jewelry  it  must  be  surrendered 
and  sent  to  the  pawn  shop  and  the  money  given  to  the 
lawyer. 

But  if  the  prisoner  has  neither  money  nor  jewelry,  then 
he  must  give  the  names  and  addresses  of  his  friends  or  rel- 
atives who  are  requested  to  furnish  money  for  his  defense. 
The  shyster  usually  alarms  the  friends  of  the  prisoner  by 
telling  them  it  is  a  hard  case  and  expressing  the  opinion 
that  he  may  be  sent  away  for  a  long  term  of  years.  All 
this  is  done  to  deceive  and  make  sure  of  a  large  fee. 

In  a  great  many  cases  the  dishonest  shyster  intimates 
that  he  has  a  "pull"  with  the  Judge  or  the  District  Attorney, 
to  turn  the  prisoner  on  the  street  as  soon  as  he  gets  a  good- 
ly fee,  which  may  be  a  hundred  dollars  or  five  hundred  dol- 
lars; not  only  do  his  promises  to  the  prisoner  prove  to  be 
absolutely  false,  but  as  soon  as  the  shyster  has  entirely 
fleeced  his  victim  he  abandons  the  case,  leaving  the  poor 
defenceless  prisoner  to  the  mercy  of  some  other  legal  shark 
like  himself. 

A  shyster  who  practices  at  Jefferson  Market  secured 
$75.00  from  a  prisoner  on  the  strength  of  a  promise  to  get 
him  out  of  prison  in  two  days.  After  he  received  the  money 
he  never  came  near  him  again.  This  is  very  common  po- 
lice court  ethics. 

When  this  same  prisoner  came  to  the  Tombs  he  fell  into 
the  hands  of  another  legal  shark,  who  on  the  strength  of  a 
solemn  promise  to  get  him  free  within  forty-eight  hours, 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  215 

or  at  the  furthest  in  a  few  days,  made  him  sign  over  $80 
cash  which  he  had  in  the  savings  bank.  When  this  last 
lawyer  secured  all  his  money  he  left  him  in  the  lurch  like 
shyster  No.  1.  I  know  all  about  this  case  and  am  of  the 
opinion  that  both  of  these  lawyers  should  have  been  sent 
to  prison  and  the  defendant  set  free. 

A  man  charged  with  murder  and  afterwards  sent  to  the 
death  house  was  given  a  lawyer  through  a  "steering  police- 
man." The  prisoner  had  just  come  out  of  the  coroner's 
office  when  the  cop  informed  him  that  a  lawyer  would  be 
sent  to  him  by  one  of  his  friends,  although  he  did  not  have 
a  friend  in  the  country.  In  less  than  an  hour  a  young  East 
Side  "shyster"  came  to  the  Tombs,  had  him  sign  a  paper 
retaining  him  as  his  attorney,  and  in  this  way  secured  the 
State's  allowance  of  five  hundred  dollars  for  the  prisoner's 
defense.  This  was  the  man's  ruin.  The  policeman  doubt- 
less shared  the  profits  of  iniquity  with  the  lawyer  when  he 
fastened  him  on  his  victim.  When  the  case  came  to  trial 
the  poor  fellow  was  convicted  by  his  own  lawyer. 

A  poor  Sicilian  named  Antonio  fell  into  the  clutches  of 
a  young  Italian  "shyster."  It  was  a  homicide  case,  but  the 
prisoner  was  only  guilty  of  assault  or  at  most  manslaughter 
in  the  second  degree.  "For  a  hundred  dollars,"  said  the 
"shyster,"  "I  will  get  you  clear."  Antonio  paid  the  money 
— all  he  had  in  the  world.  In  a  few  weeks  his  lawyer 
brought  him  to  court  and  made  him  plead  guilty  to  murder 
in  the  second  degree,  so  as  to  get  rid  of  the  case,  and  he 
was  then  and  there  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life. 
Then  the  lawyer  disappeared.  Such  frauds  ought  to  be 
disbarred  and  also  jailed. 

Another  prisoner  now  in  Sing  Sing  gave  a  hundred  dol- 
lars to  a  lawyer  with  an  unsavory  reputation  who  frequent- 
ly does  business  in  Yorkville  Court.  The  money  was  all 
the  man  was  able  to  raise  among  his  friends,  and  it  was 
given  with  the  full  understanding  that  it  would  pay  for  his 


216  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

examination  in  the  police  court  and  his  trial  in  General  Ses- 
sions. That  was  the  last  the  prisoner  ever  saw  of  that  shy- 
ster. The  prisoner  wrote  to  him  a  number  of  times,  asking 
him  to  fulfill  his  promise  and  defend  him,  but  he  paid  no 
attention  to  his  letters.  Finally  the  prisoner  in  his  despera- 
tion was  compelled  to  ask  a  charity  lawyer  to  defend  him. 
The  shyster  got  his  money  and  that  was  all  he  cared  for. 
If  anybody  else  had  swindled  a  man  in  such  a  manner  he 
would  be  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  a  year,  but  lawyers 
are  allowed  to  rob  people  at  will  and  nothing  is  done  to 
them. 

I  personally  knew  the  case  of  a  German  lad  charged  with 
a  very  serious  offence.  A  lawyer,  now  dead,  called  him 
from  his  cell  in  the  old  Tombs  to  the  counsel  room  and  offer- 
ed to  get  him  discharged  for  one  hundred  dollars.  He  in- 
formed his  married  sisters  (who  were  very  poor)  of  the 
offer  made  him.  They  in  turn  sold  their  wedding  rings 
and  borrowed  money  to  secure  this  lawyer  his  fee.  Two 
days  after  receiving  the  money  he  sent  word  to  the  sisters 
that  unless  they  raised  $300  more  he  would  not  undertake 
the  case.  Of  course  they  could  not,  and  as  a  result  they 
lost  the  $100  given  this  legal  thief  and  had  to  secure  a 
charity  lawyer.  During  the  trial  of  the  young  man  this 
inhuman  brute  worked  with  the  prosecution  and  did  all  he 
could  to  send  him  to  prison.  Just  then  Mr.  Louis  Stuyve- 
sant  Chanler,  the  poor  man's  friend — God  bless  him  for 
the  thousands  of  acts  of  kindness  he  has  shown  to  friend- 
less prisoners — came  to  his  rescue  and  aided  the  young  man 
greatly. 

We  knew  the  case  of  a  couple  of  Broadway  lawyers  who 
swindled  a  so-called  "Count"  of  $1,000  cash  and  then 
abandoned  him  for  some  reason,  which  was  manifestly 
unfair  no  matter  what  excuse  they  had. 

There  are  hundreds  of  honest  and  upright  lawyers  in  this 
city  who  would  loathe  to  do  the  mean   and  dishonorable 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  217 

things  done  by  the  police  court  "shysters;"  but  there  are 
others  who  are  doing  mean  and  dishonest  things  all  the 
time,  who  bring  disgrace  to  an  honorable  profession,  but 
few  try  to  bring  them  to  justice. 

Around  all  the  district  prisons  and  courts  of  the  city  may 
be  found  an  army  of  unworthy  vultures  that  prey  upon  the 
carcasses  of  the  "down  and  out"  unfortunates  of  all  nation- 
alities who  are  compelled  to  seek  justice  in  such  places. 
Not  only  do  these  "sharks"  rob  them  of  whatever  they  may 
have  on  them,  but  they  send  their  "steerers"  to  the  homes 
of  the  prisoners'  and  compel  them  to  pawn  what  they  may 
have  of  value  in  the  house  to  give  them  as  fees.  And  when 
they  have  bled  their  victims  almost  to  death  they  abandon 
them  to  their  fate. 

It  is  well  known  to  the  authorities  of  all  the  courts  that 
the  disreputable  lawyers  who  practice  there  have  the  cases 
against  their  clients  adjourned  from  week  to  week  for  no 
other  reason  than  to  bleed  them  of  all  the  money  in  their 
possession.  At  one  of  the  district  prisons  in  the  upper  part 
of  the  city  a  poor  man  was  kept  there  two  months  by  a 
"shyster,"  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  last  dollar  out  of 
him.  As  soon  as  the  Magistrate  knew  the  facts  he  was 
forthwith  sent  to  the  Tombs  to  await  the  action  of  the 
grand  jury. 

A  Jefferson  Market  Police  Court  lawyer  was  severely 
reprimanded  in  Special  Sessions  because  he  took  a  fee  of 
$20.00  from  a  poor  girl  and  gave  her  no  service  in  return. 
He  was  afterwards  compelled  to  return  the  money  before 
he  was  allowed  to  leave  the  court.  And  furthermore  the 
judges  promised  to  have  him  disbarred  for  the  wrong 
done.  But  this  man  is  only  one  out  of  hundreds  that  do 
the  same  thing  continually. 

A  lawyer  whom  I  personally  knew,  who  was  afterwards 
made  a  judge,  took  a  thousand  dollar  fee  from  a  crook  who 
stole  two  thousand  dollars  from  a  woman,  but  refused  to  do 


218  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

anything  more  for  him  till  he  gave  the  other  thousand  dol- 
lars. This  the  crook  refused  to  do.  The  result  was  he  had 
to  fall  back  on  friends  to  get  him  a  charity  lawyer  to  de- 
fend him  in  General  Sessions. 

Bold  brazen  shysters  hang  around  the  Courts  of  General 
and  Special  Sessions,  who,  with  the  aid  of  "cunning"  steer- 
ers,  probation  officers  and  frequently  with  the  help  of  po- 
licemen are  able  to  rob  their  clients  of  all  they  have  in  the 
world,  and  render  little  or  no  service  in  return.  The  won- 
der is  that  the  judges  do  not  combine  to  put  such  men  out 
of  business. 

The  city  magistrates  and  judges  of  the  criminal  courts 
have  known  the  situation  for  several  years,  but  apparently 
refuse  to  do  anything  to  stop  the  abuses.  The  evil  at  pres- 
ent has  assumed  the  proportion  of  a  plague — crushing  out 
the  very  life  of  the  poor  unfortunates  and  their  friends, 
who  are  compelled  to  come  to  terms  with  the  shyster. 

Some  of  our  city  magistrates  go  into  spasms  over  the  in- 
iquities of  the  professional  bondsmen,  but  they  do  nothing 
to  put  down  the  professional  shyster  and  harpies  who  are  al- 
lowed to  rob  and  ruin  the  unfortunates  daily. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  219 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

CROOKED  CROOKS  IN  PRISON 

What  brilliant  minds  are  sometimes  confined  within  pris- 
on walls!  And  how  they  work  and  fret  and  stew  from 
morning  till  night  and  frequently  from  night  till  morning  in 
an  effort  to  "beat  the  prison."  Such  men  soon  put  certain 
kinds  of  machinery  in  operation  which  might  aid  their  free- 
dom, but  when  the  authorities  find  it  out  they  clip  their 
wings,  and  their  good  conduct  marks  disappear. 

A  few  years  ago  an  old  crook  tried  to  get  out  of  the  old 
Tombs  by  digging  through  the  wall  of  his  cell.  After  he  had 
made  the  "hole"  he  found  to  his  surprise  that  it  would 
land  him  in  the  warden's  office.  A  man  named  Smith  es- 
caped from  Blackwell's  Island  in  the  summer  of  1905  by 
swimming  across  the  East  River.  He  did  not  make  the  at- 
tempt till  he  saw  a  schooner  coming  his  way,  then  he  pre- 
tended that  he  had  cramps  and  must  be  rescued.  It  would 
fill  a  very  large  book  to  tell  one-half  of  the  crooked  deeds 
done  in  an  ordinary  prison  in  one  year. 

In  1900  a  young  man  was  arrested  in  this  city  named 
George  E.  Shep.  In  due  time  he  was  indicted  for  the 
crime  of  grand  larceny  in  the  second  degree,  and  sent  to 
Elmira. 

Dr.  F.  W.  Robertson  was  then  superintendent  of  that 
institution,  and  was  able  after  a  few  interviews  to  "size 
up"  his  boarder.  It  could  not  be  denied  that  Shep  was  a 
young  fellow  of  considerable  ability,  but  all  who  knew  him 
believed  that  he  needed  "watching." 

Dr.   Robertson  saw  that  he  was  an  expert  bookkeeper 


220  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

and  could  handle  both  the  pen  and  typewriter  with  amazing 
agility.  As  he  showed  unusual  brightness  and  precocity 
he  was  made  assistant  bookkeeper  in  the  Clothing  De- 
partment under  Officer  Weinberg.  In  the  summer  of  1901 
Shep  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  had  better  abandon  the 
seclusive  privileges  of  Elmira  and  seek  "fresh  fields  and 
pastures  new"  in  some  more  congenial  climate  where  the 
restraints  of  prison  life  were  not  so  oppressive  and  where 
he  would  have  room  for  the  development  and  display  of  his 
mental  powers. 

When  Shep  found  that  he  would  be  compelled  to  live  in 
the  Reformatory  longer  than  he  thought  necessary,  he  very 
cautiously  put  out  "feelers"  to  see  if  money  could  help  him 
to  freedom.  As  we  read  over  the  ramifications  of  his  cor- 
respondence and  follow  the  unraveling  of  his  deeply  laid 
schemes,  we  are  forced  to  believe  that  some  person  or  per- 
sons in  the  institution  must  have  given  him  encouragement. 
From  this  time  on,  Shep,  who  possessed  the  luxury  of  a 
cool,  calculating  head,  set  himself  to  work  by  a  well  laid 
scheme  to  secure  his  liberty. 

Shep  must  have  had  a  fertile  brain.  Whether  the  infor- 
mation was  sent  him  or  not  we  do  not  know,  at  any  rate  he 
knew  that  there  was  a  large  corporation  in  Baltimore, 
known  as  the  Shep  Knitting  Mill  Company.  As  he  had  ac- 
cess to  the  Prison  Printing  Office  he  had  letter  heads  struck 
off  with  the  name  and  address  of  the  mill.  After  this  he 
wrote  typewritten  letters  to  the  chairman  of  the  Board  of 
Trade,  of  Spencer,  Mass.,  offering  to  build  a  knitting  mill 
in  that  New  England  city,  on  which  he  proposed  to  spend 
$14,000,  provided  the  citizens  would  give  a  site  and  a  bonus 
of  $2,500.  The  correspondence  between  Shep  and  Spencer 
Board  of  Trade  was  voluminous. 

Shep  had  also  written  to  a  Philadelphia  firm  who  prom- 
ised to  furnish  the  machinery  and  he  was  able  to  have  an 
architect  and  a  representative  of  the  machinery  firm  meet 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  221 

in  Spencer  and  look  over  the  site  for  the  new  mill — all  of 
which  impressed  the  citizens  of  Spencer  with  the  "realism" 
of  the  scheme.  By  December,  1901,  the  Spencer  Board  of 
Trade  had  raised  the  necessary  bonus  of  $2,500  to  send  to 
Shep,  as  soon  as  the  details  were  arranged,  but  alas, 
the  whole  project  had  no  foundation  whatever  except  in  the 
fertile  brain  of  Shep,  the  Elmira  convict! 

About  this  time  Dr.  Robertson,  the  superintendent,  was 
making  herculean  efforts  to  stop  the  importation  of  tobac- 
co into  the  Reformatory.  Some  person  was  smuggling  the 
contraband,  and  the  authorities  set  themselves  to  find  out 
who  it  was.  One  of  the  first  to  be  suspected  was  Officer  Wein- 
berg, who  was  instructor  in  the  tailoring  department.  One 
evening  after  Weinberg  had  gone  for  the  day,  Dr.  Robert- 
son and  some  of  his  associates  raided  Weinberg's  rooms 
and  captured  some  tobacco  and  many  letters  that  came 
through  the  mails  addressed  to  Shep.  The  correspondence 
between  Shep  and  the  Spencer  Board  of  Trade  showed 
clearly  that  for  months  this  convict  had  been  "dickering" 
to  secure  from  them  by  fraud  the  sum  of  $2,500.  During 
all  this  time  Shep's  mail  had  been  clandestinely  brought  in- 
to the  Reformatory  without  the  knowledge  of  the  Superin- 
tendent and  in  violation  of  the  rules.  Officer  Weinberg  was 
at  once  suspected  and  a  watch  put  upon  his  movements. 
Weinberg's  letter  box  in  the  Elmira  post  office  was  also 
watched  by  detectives,  for  mail  addressed  to  Shep.  On 
January  2nd,  1902,  a  letter  reached  Elmira  by  the  morning 
mail  addressed  to  George  E.  Shep,  Esq.,  Elmira,  N.  Y.  In 
the  afternoon  Officer  Weinberg  came  to  the  post  office,  look- 
ed all  around  to  see  that  no  one  was  looking,  secured  the 
letter  from  the  clerk,  put  it  carefully  in  his  inside  pocket  and 
departed.  At  that  time,  Dr.  Robertson,  the  superintendent, 
had  a  detective  in  the  post  office  concealed  from  public 
view,  who  saw  all  of  Weinberg's  movements  from  the  time 
he  came  into  the  office  till  he  carried  the  letter  away.  That 


222  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

afternoon  he  reported  the  matter  to  Dr.  Robertson,  who 
awaited  further  developments. 

Next  morning  at  exactly  six  o'clock  Officer  Weinberg  re- 
ported at  the  Reformatory,  as  was  his  usual  custom,  signed 
the  register,  and  then  went  to  breakfast.  Afterwards  Wein- 
berg was  called  into  the  front  office,  where  he  was  closeted 
with  Dr.  Robertson  and  several  of  the  officers  for  two 
hours;  he  was  asked  if  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  carrying 
tobacco  and  mail  matter  into  the  Reformatory  against  the 
rules,  all  of  which  he  denied.  Then  he  was  asked  to  sur- 
render the  letter  he  had  received  the  day  before  in  the  El- 
mira  post  office  addressed  to  Shep,  which  had  the  postmark 
of  Spencer,  Mass.,  and  which  he  had  then  in  his  pocket. 
Weinberg  finally  broke  down  and  surrendered  the  letter. 
This  letter  was  from  the  chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trade  of 
Spencer,  Mass.,  asking  for  final  instructions  as  to  how  the 
bonus  money  should  be  sent  to  Shep  and  closing  the  bar- 
gain for  the  bogus  knitting  mill. 

While  Weinberg  was  undergoing  a  rigid  examination  at 
the  Reformatory  the  police  searched  his  rooms  in  Elmira 
and  found  more  letters  and  a  suit  of  clothes  belonging  to 
the  Reformatory.  He  was  then  placed  under  arrest  charged 
with  petit  larceny.  Further  investigation  revealed  the  fact 
that  no  less  than  two  hundred  letters  for  Shep  had  been 
brought  into  the  Reformatory  in  the  course  of  six  months. 
Some  of  the  letters  showed  that  Shep  had  secured  a  firm  of 
architects  in  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  to  prepare  plans  for 
the  new  $14,000  building  and  that  Weinberg  was  to  be  gen- 
eral manager.  Arrangements  were  also  made  with  a  Ma- 
chine Company,  of  Philadelphia,  to  furnish  the  plant  with 
several  thousand  dollars  worth  of  new  machinery. 

About  the  same  time  a  long  article  appeared  in  the  Spen- 
cer Herald,  on  the  new  Shep  Knitting  Mills,  so  soon  to  be 
operated  in  that  city,  and  congratulating  the  city  fathers  on 
the  success  of  their  negotiations,  and  promising  that  the 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  223 

city  would  build  new  sewers  and  some  of  their  enterprising 
citizens  would  erect  a  row  of  houses  and  possibly  a  street 
for  the  mill  hands. 

After  several  weeks  of  investigation  the  authorities  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  all  that  convict  Shep  wanted  was  the 
money  to  bribe  some  of  the  Reformatory  guards  so  as  to 
make  good  his  escape.  In  working  up  his  scheme,  Shep 
showed  himself  to  be  an  expert  forger,  as  he  involved  sev- 
eral other  persons  in  his  plans  by  forging  their  names  to  his 
papers,  although  they  denied  all  knowledge  of  it.  Great 
credit  is  due  to  Dr.  Robertson,  who  nipped  the  scheme  just 
in  the  nick  of  time  and  before  the  Spencer  people  had  paid 
ever  the  money  to  the  noted  crook. 

Soon  afterwards  Shep  was  transferred  to  Auburn  Prison 
to  serve  out  his  maximum  sentence  of  five  years. 

Bold  Counterfeiters  in  Auburn  Prison 

A  few  years  ago  the  authorities  of  Auburn  Prison  were 
startled  by  the  discovery  that  two  of  their  convicts  were 
engaged  in  the  work  of  counterfeiting,  which  is  a  crime 
against  the  United  States  Government. 

The  two  prisoners  who  were  caught  red-handed  were 
Louis  Julien  and  Adelbert  Chapin.  They  are  good  mechan- 
ics and  know  how  to  handle  tools.  The  curse  of  our  prison 
system  is  that  those  who  are  sentenced  to  a  term  for  hard 
labor  have  only  child's  play  for  work,  hence  it  is  that  many 
convicts  find  that  time  often  hangs  heavily  on  their  hands. 

Julien  and  Chapin,  the  Auburn  counterfeiters,  were  in- 
dicted by  the  United  States  Grand  Jury  at  Syracuse,  in 
June,  1904,  but  were  left  to  fill  out  their  unexpired  sen- 
tence before  being  put  on  trial  for  the  crime  of  counterfeit- 
ing. 

On  June  14th,  1905,  Julien  and  Chapin,  after  they  had 
finished  their  imprisonment  in  Auburn,  were  placed  on  trial 
in  the  United  States  District  Court  for  the  crime  of  counter- 


224  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

feiting  while  in  prison.  As  both  were  caught  "red-handed," 
or  as  they  say  "dead  to  rights,"  and  with  the  goods  on  them, 
they,  on  advice  of  counsel,  pleaded  guilty  and  were  sen- 
tenced, Chapin  to  two  years  in  Clinton  Prison,  and  Julien 
to  one  year  in  the  same  place. 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  know  that  these  convicts  worked 
in  the  same  shop  in  Auburn.  Their  benches  joined  each 
other.  In  their  idle  moments  they  conceived  the  idea  of 
coining  money.  It  was  not  difficult  to  carry  out  this  plan,  ev- 
en under  the  eyes  of  the  prison  guards.  They  succeeded  in 
making  a  mould  for  silver  dollars  and  one  for  nickels;  one 
of  the  two  men  was  engaged  in  work  that  required  the  use 
of  molten  metal.  At  the  proper  time  Chapin  had  the  moulds 
all  ready  and  Julien  at  intervals  would  carry  over  the  metal 
in  ladles  and  fill  the  moulds,  until  they  had  made  several 
hundred  dollars  worth  of  money,  the  guard  supposing  all 
the  time  that  they  were  doing  their  regular  prison  work. 
The  counterfeit  money  is  said  to  have  been  well  made  and 
before  long  much  of  it  placed  in  circulation. 

Two  female  friends  of  the  convicts  came  at  intervals  to 
visit  them  during  each  month  and  carried  away  pockets 
full  of  the  spurious  coin  and  exchanged  the  same  for  com- 
modities, which  they  sent  to  Julien  and  Chapin.  When  one 
of  the  women  was  arrested  for  passing  bad  money  she  con- 
fessed everything  and  then  a  watch  was  put  upon  the  men 
in  prison,  who  were  afterwards  caught  "red-handed."  The 
astonishing  thing  is  not  how  they  made  counterfeit  money, 
before  the  eyes  of  the  keepers  and  guards,  but  how  they 
were  able  to  carry  pockets  full  of  the  "stuff"  to  the  women 
in  the  waiting  room. 

This  is  not  the  first  time,  however,  that  counterfeit  money 
was  made  in  a  prison.  A  few  years  ago  a  full  set  of  dies, 
moulds,  etc.,  were  discovered  accidentally  by  secret  service 
officers  of  the  Government  in  the  Eastern  Prison  of  Penn- 
sylvania, near  Philadelphia. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  225 

This  was  one  of  the  biggest  finds  ever  discovered  in  a 
prison  and  it  made  a  sensation  at  the  time. 

Four  "cons"  were  involved  in  that  crime,  Hoffman, 
Smith,  Hall  and  Ashton.  Before  they  had  served  their  time 
they  were  indicted  and  afterwards  put  on  trial  in  Philadel- 
phia for  counterfeiting.  Smith  and  Ashton  pleaded  guilty 
£nd  received  a  suspended  sentence  and  have  been  living 
straight  ever  since.  Hoffman  and  Hall  were  released  on 
their  own  recognizance,  but  having  broken  their  promise 
to  keep  out  of  crime,  were  re-arrested  and  are  now  serving 
time  for  the  crime  of  counterfeiting. 


226  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 
SCENES  DURING  VISITING  HOURS  IN  THE  TOMBS 

The  Tombs  Prison  is  in  the  nature  of  a  detention 
barracks,  where  persons  awaiting  trial  are  kept  for  a 
season,  and  where  one-half  are  discharged  for  lack  of  evi- 
dence and  other  legal  loopholes  through  which  men  and 
women  slip  to  freedom.  Here  prisoners  are  permitted  to 
see  their  friends  every  day  of  the  week,  except  Sundays  and 
legal  holidays.  At  the  present  time  when  the  Tombs  con- 
tains about  400 — 500  state  and  federal  prisoners,  it  can  be 
readily  seen  that  one-half  of  the  inmates  are  visited  daily, 
which  would  average  a  thousand  visitors  a  week. 

What  a  Babel  of  tongues  operate  here  from  every  part  of 
the  world!  What  scenes  may  be  witnessed  during  the  visit- 
ing hours!  Here  may  be  found  wives  and  mothers,  fathers, 
brothers,  children  and  friends  all  in  tears! 

Sometimes  as  many  as  eight  to  ten  different  nationalities 
are  found  speaking  their  own  peculiar  language  on  one 
tier  of  forty  prisoners, — English,  German,  French,  Spanish, 
Russ,  Bohemiam,  Scandinavian,  Polish  and  even  Chinese. 

With  their  arms  stretched  out  through  the  bars,  taking 
hold  of  each  other  in  the  anguish  of  a  death  bed  scene,  they 
kiss  each  other,  weep  and  groan  over  one  another  and  fre- 
quently become  hysterical.  And  these  scenes  continue  dur- 
ing the  entire  visiting  hour,  and  when  the  gong  rings  for 
the  recess,  they  are  so  loath  to  depart  that  often  the  keep- 
ers have  to  drag  them  from  each  other.  As  the  wives, 
mothers,  children  and  friends  pass  along  the  corridors  to- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  227 

ward  the  gate,  you  can  see  their  eyes  still  full  of  tears  and 
red  with  weeping. 

These  scenes,  which  are  unspeakably  pathetic,  are  almost 
daily  witnessed  in  the  New  York  Tombs.  Here,  for  exam- 
ple, is  an  aged  mother  at  a  cell  door,  whose  heart  is  wrung 
with  anguish  over  the  downfall  of  a  son.  She  holds  his 
hand  while  the  tears  trickle  down  her  kindly,  motherly  face. 
Oh,  how  sad  that  the  innocent  have  to  suffer  because  of  the 
wrong  doing  of  others,  that  human  love  and  sympathy  are 
so  interwoven  that  the  crime  of  one  individual  causes  many 
to  sorrow,  and  renders  life  burdensome!  At  the  cell  of  a 
man  charged  with  murder  stands  his  sorrowing  wife  and 
three  children.  Their  plain  and  faded  garments  indicate 
poverty.  The  pinched  and  careworn  face  of  the  wife  tells 
of  the  terrible  struggle  for  a  livelihood  she  is  making  be- 
cause deprived  of  her  husband's  help.  The  chances  are 
that  both  she  and  her  children  will  become  inmates  of  the 
almshouse  or  some  charitable  institution.  The  prisoner 
apparently  fully  realizes  the  gravity  of  his  position  and 
seeks  to  comfort  his  wife  and  caress  into  cheerfulness  his 
unfortunate  children.  The  evidence  against  the  prisoner, 
however,  is  so  positive  and  convincing  that  he  will  be  elec- 
trocuted. He  realizes  this  but  conceals  from  his  wife  his 
feelings,  and  assures  her  that  he  will  be  acquitted.  She 
becomes  hopeful  and  with  a  kiss  and  a  smile  on  her  tearful 
face,  departs.  Picture  if  you  can  the  scene  in  the  home  of 
this  murderer  when  the  news  of  his  conviction  is  received, 
the  wringing  of  hands,  the  moans  of  anguish,  the  appeals 
to  God,  and  the  frenzied  outcry  of  inconsolable  grief!  The 
innocent  suffering  because  of  the  guilt  of  another.  Home 
broken  up,  mother  and  children  separated,  the  looks 
askance  of  the  neighbors,  the  world's  frown,  and  a  heritage 
of  shame  and  woe  for  mother  and  children ! 

At  another  cell  door  stands  a  father  silently  weeping, 
while  the  guilty  son  tries  to  comfort  him  with  asservations 


228  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

of  innocence,  but  the  father  does  not  believe  him ;  he  knows 
his  boy  is  guilty;  he  knows  that  for  years  he  has  been  dis- 
honest and  intemperate,  and  has  at  last  reached  the  end  of 
his  wayward  career.  The  father  reminds  the  son  of  the 
earnest  warnings,  the  wise  advice,  the  prayers  and  the  tears 
of  his  dear  mother.  The  son  pleads  for  forgiveness  and  re- 
newed efforts  in  his  behalf.  The  father  gently,  lovingly,  yet 
firmly  says,  "My  son,  you  are  guilty.  My  respect  for  the 
law  is  so  powerful  that  I  must  uphold  it,  though  it  means 
the  imprisonment  of  my  only  son.  Had  this  been  your  only 
offence  to  my  knowledge,  I  would  do  my  utmost  to  secure 
your  release.  I  have  shielded  you  several  times  to  my  sor- 
row. Had  you  been  imprisoned  for  your  first  offence,  you 
would  not  perhaps  be  where  you  are  to-day;  you  might 
have  reformed  and  been  a  great  comfort  to  your  good 
mother  and  myself."  To  some  extent  this  father  was  right, 
even  if  he  did  take  a  stand  contrary  to  that  taken  by  most 
men  whose  sons  have  violated  the  law.  I  do  not  believe  in 
sending  any  man  to  prison  who  demonstrates  his  fitness  for 
freedom.  If  prisons  reclaimed  and  uplifted  men  and 
women  I  would  say  otherwise,  but  they  do  not.  I  believe 
that  seventy-five  out  of  every  hundred  leave  prison  worse 
than  when  they  entered. 

One  day  my  attention  was  called  to  a  young  woman  who 
was  silently  weeping  by  a  cell  door.  She  was  richly  attired, 
and  very  much  of  a  lady  in  appearance,  and  could  not  be 
more  than  twenty  years  of  age.  I  became  interested  and 
on  inquiring  learned  that  she  was  a  bride  of  only  a  few 
weeks.  She  had  been  wooed  and  won  by  a  handsome,  ta- 
lented, clever  rascal  under  false  pretensions.  He  had  spent 
a  number  of  months  in  a  Massachusetts  town,  where  his 
faithful  attendance  at  church  and  earnest  prayers  and  elo- 
quent exhortations  had  gained  him  the  confidence  of  the 
leading  people  of  the  place.  At  a  sociable  he  had  formed 
the  young  lady's  acquaintance  and  by  his  ingratiating  ways, 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  229 

scholarly  address  and  earnest  protestations  of  affection, 
soon  induced  her  to  consent  to  marry  him.  Her  parents  at 
first  stoutly  protested,  but  yielded  to  the  importunities  of 
the  much  loved  daughter.  A  brilliant  wedding  was  the  re- 
sult, with  guests  from  New  York  and  all  parts  of  New  Eng- 
land. To  the  bride  the  father  gave  $10,000  as  a  wedding 
gift.  A  trip  to  Montreal,  where  the  wily  rascal  obtained 
control  of  the  money,  terminated  her  dream  of  a  happy 
married  life.  In  three  days  he  had  gambled  away  the  en- 
tire sum.  To  New  York  city  they  then  journeyed,  where  at 
one  of  the  leading  hotels  the  rascal  passed  a  worthless 
check,  which  led  to  his  apprehension  and  confinement  in 
the  Tombs  to  await  the  action  of  the  grand  jury.  Earnest 
petitions  to  the  bride's  father  were  stubbornly  and  wisely 
denied.  A  careful  investigation  established  the  fact  that 
the  rascal  who  had  so  cruelly  and  unpardonably  deceived 
the  estimable  young  lady,  had  been  an  inmate  of  four  pris- 
ons, and  was  one  of  the  most  notorious  criminals  in  the 
country.  It  furthermore  became  known  that  at  the  time  he 
was  in  Massachusetts,  he  was  wanted  in  St.  Louis  for  de- 
frauding an  Insurance  Company  to  the  extent  of  five  thous- 
and dollars.  He  was  hiding  in  a  quiet  Massachusetts  town 
and  improved  the  time  in  winning  for  a  bride  the  daughter 
of  one  of  the  most  influential  and  aristocratic  families  in 
old  New  England.  He  was  sent  to  Sing  Sing  Prison  for 
several  years,  and  the  wife  well  nigh  brokenhearted  and 
bowed  to  the  dust  in  humiliation,  returned  to  her  parents  a 
sadder  and  a  wiser  woman.    A  divorce  was  the  result. 

I  have  seen  mothers  and  wives  kneeling  at  cell  doors  and 
pleading  with  God  for  the  deliverance  and  reclamation  of 
sons  and  husbands.  I  have  seen  prisoners  so  conscience 
stricken  and  so  moved  by  the  tears  and  sufferings  of  dear 
ones,  that  they  wept  in  their  agony  and  firmly  resolved  to 
lead  moral  lives,  and  they  kept  the  resolve. 

I  have  said  nothing  about  the  poor  and  their  sufferings, 


230  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

and  more  especially  the  children  of  the  poor  when  for  some 
unknown  reason  they  came  within  the  meshes  of  the  law. 
Some  years  ago  I  had  occasion  to  meet  a  German  lad  in  the 
Boys'  Prison.  He  was  what  the  boys  call  a  "tenderfoot." 
He  cried  night  and  day.  I  felt  very  sorry  for  him.  He  was 
indeed  inconsolable  and  it  seemed  nothing  could  be  said 
which  would  make  him  dry  his  tears  or  infuse  new  hope  in- 
to his  discouraged  heart.  He  cried  continually  for  his 
mother  and  although  word  was  sent  to  her,  no  mother  came. 
His  sufferings  became  so  acute  that  I  would  have  done  any- 
thing in  my  power  for  the  boy.  After  waiting  ten  days  and 
no  mother  came,  at  the  urgent  request  of  one  of  the  keep- 
ers I  went  in  search  for  her.  She  lived  on  the  East  side, 
near  Station  Street,  about  five  blocks  from  the  Bowery.  She 
was  bloated,  coarse,  unmotherly,  without  any  natural  af- 
fection, and  I  saw  at  once  that  she  cared  more  for  her  vile 
business  than  her  own  child.    I  could  do  nothing  with  her. 

I  do  not  think  I  shall  ever  forget  the  case  of  the  newsboy, 
who  was  arrested  at  the  Brooklyn  Bridge  entrance  for  sell- 
ing papers.  Complaints  had  been  made  to  the  police  of 
some  ruffian  boys  who  took  pleasure  in  insulting  people 
who  would  not  buy  papers.  The  officers  had  received  or- 
ders to  arrest  the  first  offender  and  make  him  an  example. 
Frank  Smith  was  then  at  the  desk  in  the  old  prison.  He 
had  just  taken  a  boy  to  the  ten  day  house,  and  asked  me  to 
go  and  see  him.  I  did  so.  I  found  the  poor  boy  inside  the 
big  iron  gate  crying  his  life  out.  No  one  could  comfort  him. 
I  tried  to  find  out  his  offence,  but  he  would  not  stop  his  cry- 
ing long  enough  to  tell  me.  I  went  over  to  the  police  court, 
but  as  there  was  a  large  calendar  that  day,  I  could  get  no 
information.  I  returned  to  the  Tombs.  As  I  came  near  the 
boy  I  found  that  his  two  little  sisters  had  come  to  see  him. 
They  had  heard  of  his  misfortune  and  had  sought  him  out 
as  soon  as  possible.  It  was  one  of  the  most  pathetic  sights 
that  I  ever  witnessed.    The  boy  lived  with  his  mother  and 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  231 

sisters  on  East  Broadway.  They  were  Jews  and  very  poor. 
The  mother  was  ill  at  home,  suffering  from  an  incurable 
disease,  and  was  then  on  her  death  bed.  Reuben,  the  di- 
minutive newsboy,  was  trying  to  support  the  family  by  sell- 
ing papers.  The  sentence  of  the  court  was  thirty  days  in 
the  city  prison  or  a  hundred  dollars  bond.  But  this  was  out 
of  question  for  the  family.  When  I  returned  from  court  I 
found  the  two  sisters  crying  bitterly  at  the  gate  and  begging 
Rubie  to  come  home.  Their  cry  was,  "O  Rubie,  come 
home,  won't  you?  Mamma  is  sick  and  ready  to  die.  Won't 
you  come  home  with  us,  Rubie?"  All  this  time  they  were 
weeping  bitterly  and  everybody  was  affected,  even  the 
tiermen.  I  could  not  stand  it  any  longer.  I  saw  the  magis- 
trate at  once  and  told  him  the  situation.  He  would  not  dis- 
charge him  under  any  circumstances.  When  I  saw  that  I 
could  make  no  further  impression  I  offered  myself  as  Ru- 
ble's bondsman,  and  the  Judge  accepted  me  and  the  boy 
was  at  once  discharged  and  went  home  with  his  sisters.  I 
saw  one  of  the  Bridge  policemen  and  asked  that  Rubie  be 
not  arrested  on  account  of  his  poverty  and  the  fact  that  he 
had  a  dying  mother  at  home,  and  he  kindly  spoke  to  the 
others  at  the  Bridge  and  Rubie  was  never  molested  after 
that  day. 

The  scene  which  had  the  most  powerful  effect  on  me 
and  which  has  stayed  by  me  the  longest,  moving  me  to  tears 
even  to  this  day,  was  the  beholding  two  little  girls,  sisters, 
conversing  with  their  brother  who  was  accused  of  burglary. 
The  oldest  sister  was  about  thirteen  years  of  age,  the  young- 
est about  three.  All  were  crying  bitterly,  with  the  little  one 
sobbing  out,  "Oh  brother  Willie,  come  home,  please  come 
home,  we  have  had  nothing  to  eat  all  day,  and  we  had  no 
supper  last  night.  Why  don't  the  naughty  man  (the  keep- 
er) let  you  come  home?" 

What  were  the  facts  about  this  little  sorrowing  group? 
Three  orphans,  the  boy  about  nineteen  had  cared  for  his 


232  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

sisters  faithfully  and  tenderly.  His  record  was  good,  had 
been  employed  by  one  firm  for  more  than  nine  years,  and 
had  given  general  satisfaction.  One  evening  while  passing 
along  Second  Avenue,  a  thief  rushed  by  pursued  by  a  po- 
liceman; as  he  passed  Daly  (so  we  will  call  him)  he  thrust 
into  his  pocket  a  gold  watch  and  chain,  which  the  policeman 
observed.  Daly  was  arrested  as  a  confederate  of  the  thief 
and  turned  over  to  the  police.  After  learning  these  facts 
and  fully  verifying  them,  I  succeeded  in  securing  the  release 
of  the  prisoner,  who  to-day  is  one  of  the  best  and  most  pros- 
perous carpenters  in  the  city.  The  pathetic  face  of  the  baby 
sister  I  have  never  forgotten,  nor  her  innocent  pleading  for 
the  return  home  of  her  dearly  and  deservedly  loved  brother. 
I  have  stood  opposite  "Murderers'  Row"  and  counted 
more  than  twenty-five  visitors  eagerly  talking  with  men 
whose  brutal  appearance  and  awful  crimes  rendered  them 
repulsive  even  to  their  fellow  men.  Some  of  these  twen- 
ty-five visitors  did  not  even  so  much  as  know  the  prisoners, 
and  had  merely  read  of  their  crimes  in  the  papers  and 
prompted  by  curiosity,  and  a  mawkish  sentimentality,  had 
called  to  express  sympathy  and  tender  their  help.  Some  of 
the  visitors  were  richly  gowned  and  daintily  gloved  men 
and  women.  They  brought  hampers  of  food  and  large  bou- 
quets. One  would  think  that  these  murderers  were  heroes 
and  martyrs,  from  the  treatment  accorded  them  by  these 
women  whose  conduct  seemed  to  me  almost  inexplicable. 
The  man  whose  crime  was  most  awful  and  grewsome  in  its 
details  received  the  most  attention.  What  is  there  about  a 
murderer  to  attract  refined  women  I  cannot  understand,  and 
I  have  given  the  subject  considerable  thought.  To  see  a 
cultured  woman  almost  caressing  a  brutal  murderer  who  is 
an  entire  stranger  to  her  is  a  sight  sufficient  to  cause  any 
sane  man  to  wonder.  It  seemed  to  me  it  would  be  more 
consistent  if  they  called  on  the  family  of  the  victim  and  of- 
fered them  help  and  sympathy. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  233 

To  the  student  of  human  nature,  visiting  hours  at  the 
Tombs  afford  a  good  opportunity  to  study  phases  of  life  not 
found  elsewhere.  Let  him  pass  from  cell  to  cell,  carefully 
observing  the  visitors  at  each,  the  expression  of  their  fea- 
tures, their  gestures,  their  attitudes.  On  some  faces  sits 
hope,  radiant,  beautiful  and  very  encouraging  to  the  pris- 
oner. On  another  face  the  stamp  of  fear,  doubt  and  uncer- 
tainty is  clear.  The  son  or  husband  is  in  danger.  The  ev- 
idence points  to  guilt  and  conviction,  too  much  indeed  to  en- 
courage even  the  shadow  of  hope.  Another  face  bears  sor- 
row and  tears,  and  discouragement  has  left  its  unmistakable 
impress.  One  finds  on  few  faces  the  stamp  of  resignation. 
Hard  it  is  for  a  mother  or  a  wife  to  become  reconciled  to 
the  thought  of  a  son  or  a  husband,  serving  a  term  in  prison, 
however  guilty  he  may  be. 

Negro  criminals  have  the  most  cheerful  and  encouraging 
visitors.  The  Black  race  is  blessed  with  a  disposition  to 
view  the  bright  side  of  all  situations  and  experiences.  It  is 
a  cheerful  race.  The  Negro  is  a  foe  to  gloomy  thoughts. 
It  is  hard  to  depress  him.  He  will  dance,  sing  and  make 
merry  at  the  foot  of  the  gallows.  The  Negro  visitors  enter 
smiling  and  so  depart.  They  talk  with  prisoners  just  as 
though  they  were  free  and  comfortably  ensconced  in  pleas- 
ant homes.    They  cheer  instead  of  depressing  the  prisoner. 

The  Italians  are  really  distressing  in  their  efforts  to  com- 
fort friends  in  prison.  They  jabber,  whine,  cry,  caress 
and  condemn  and  reproach  until  they  have  the  prisoner  in 
a  state  bordering  on  insanity.  They  leave  him  in  a  condi- 
tion truly  pitiful.  Instead  of  cheering  him,  he  has  been  ren- 
dered far  more  miserable  by  his  visitors.  He  dreams  of 
electric  chairs,  prisons,  policemen  and  handcuffs.  The 
bananas  his  visitors  bring  he  could  well  do  without,  as  he 
could  the  visits  of  friends  who  so  greatly  depress  him. 

Fritz  appears  and  says  to  Hans,  "I  think  you  go  by  the 
prison  alretty,  ain't  it?"    "Naw,  I  thinks  I  go  by  the  shudge 


234  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

bimeby,  pretty  quick,  and  he  lets  me  go  home  to  mine 
Louisa.  1  am  not  guilty  alretty,"  responds  the  hopeful 
Hans.  German  visitors  as  a  general  thing  conduct  them- 
selves sensibly.  They  are  not  emotional,  but  hardheaded 
and  sensible.  They  smoke  with  the  prisoner,  laugh  and 
joke,  and  leave  him  in  a  cheerful  frame  of  mind.  The  Ger- 
man is  sociable  and  not  easily  rendered  gloomy  or  depress- 
ed. The  German  visitors  try  to  imbue  prisoners  with  the 
idea  that  their  trouble  will  soon  end,  and  in  a  few  days  they 
will  be  sitting  in  Hoffmans'  beer  garden  with  a  glass  of 
lager,  and  a  plate  of  sauerkraut  before  them.  So  believing, 
the  prisoner  lies  down  to  pleasant  dreams. 

The  privilege  of  seeing  and  conversing  with  friends,  all 
things  considered,  is  a  great  boon  to  prisoners  and  should 
never  be  denied  them,  especially  those  awaiting  trial.  Many 
a  man  naturally  inclined  to  take  a  dark  view  of  his  trouble 
has  been  kept  sane  and  sound  from  self-murder  by  the  daily 
appearance  of  some  loved  one.  The  human  heart  when  fill- 
ed with  fear  and  foreboding  yearns  for  sympathy,  encour- 
agement and  comfort.  If  these  influences  be  withheld,  the 
sufferings  are  so  terrible  as  to  pass  human  understanding. 
To  an  imprisoned  man  who  is  friendless,  the  coming  of 
sympathy  and  kindly  helpful  interest  is  like  a  visit  from 
God's  Holy  Angels. 

No  wonder  the  prisoner  cries  out  in  the  night  in  the 
agony  of  soul.  No  wonder  he  offers  a  plaint  that  is  sad  and 
sorrowful.  The  following  lines  from  the  pen  of  an  unfort- 
unate show  the  harshness  of  even  our  modern  prison  life: 

"I  know  not  whether  the  law  be  right, 

Or  whether  the  law  be  wrong; 
All  that  we  know  who  lie  in  jail 

Is  that  the  bars  are  strong; 
And  that  each  day  is  like  a  year  — 

A  year  whose  days  are  wrong! 


INSIDE  AND  GUT  235 

And  this  I  know  that  every  law, 

That  men  have  made  for  man, 
Since  man  first  took  his  brother's  life, 

And  the  wretched  world  began, 
But  scatters  the  wheat  and  saves  the  chaff 

With  a  most  unlucky  fan ! 

This  too  I  know  and  wise  it  were 

If  each  could  know  the  same 
That  every  prison  that  men  have  built, 

Is  built  of  bricks  of  shame, 
And  bound  with  bars  lest  Christ  should  see 

How  men  their  brothers  maim." 


236  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

DOES  IMPRISONMENT  REFORM? 

This  is  a  hard  question  to  answer,  although  it  has  been 
asked  extensively  down  through  the  ages.  The  answer 
will  turn  mainly  on  what  you  mean  by  reform.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  know  that  students  of  criminology  have  wrestled 
with  the  question,  but  cannot  agree  on  the  answer.  As 
an  abstract  question  it  is  very  clear  to  us  that  imprison- 
ment of  itself  cannot  reform.  Force  cannot  change  a  life, 
nor  restore  the  image  of  God  in  the  soul.  When  a  law- 
breaker is  placed  inside  the  walls  of  a  prison,  force  uses 
the  machinery  of  the  institution  to  compel  him  to  pay  the 
penalty  of  the  law.  But  it  cannot  reform  him,  nor  make 
him  a  better  man,  nor  change  his  nature.  That  work  must 
be  done  by  a  higher  Power. 

Not  only  can  it  be  truthfully  said  that  imprisonment 
does  not  reform  the  law-breaker,  but  in  most  of  our  pris- 
ons the  culprit  has  only  to  serve  a  brief  sentence,  to  come 
out  a  worse  man  than  when  he  went  in.  This  is  a  sad 
statement  to  make,  when  we  think  of  all  our  boasted  lib- 
erties and  advanced  civilization,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true. 
For  the  explanation  of  this  condition  of  affairs  it  is  not 
necessary  to  look  far.  The  fact  is,  the  unfortunate  lack  of 
proper  classification  in  all  of  our  prisons  makes  the  com- 
panionship of  thieves  and  cutthroats  so  demoralizing,  the 
fellowship  so  infectious,  the  language  and  habits  so  debas- 
ing, that  out  of  thousands  of  persons  who  mingle  together 
in  a  modern  prison,  few  escape  the  contaminating  influ- 
ences. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  237 

When  a  man  has  been  charged  with  a  crime,  the  first 
thing  that  is  done  by  society  is  to  arrest  him  and  lock  him 
up  in  a  little  dark  dungeon,  4x6  feet,  with  hardly  enough 
cubic  space  of  air  coming  in  through  the  small  iron  grating 
to  make  it  sanitary.  Here  he  is  kept  weeks  and  sometimes 
months  before  a  trial  is  given  him,  breathing  the  fetid  at- 
mosphere of  the  institution,  which  after  a  time  poisons  his 
entire  system,  and  paints  his  face  with  the  prison  pallor. 

Here  it  is  that  many  a  man  who  has  brooded  over  the 
past  to  such  an  extent  that  when  he  has  atoned  for  his 
crime,  and  he  finds  himself  a  free  man  once  more,  has 
made  up  his  mind  to  fight  society  to  a  finish!  From  this 
time  on  his  hand  is  against  every  man,  and  every  man  is 
against  him.  The  imprisonment  has  aroused  in  him  the 
darkest  passions  of  an  unregenerate  life,  and  made  him  a 
moral  anarchist  for  the  fancied  wrongs  he  has  suffered. 
Said  a  man  to  me  who  had  spent  nearly  twenty-four  years 
in  prison,  having  been  convicted  of  crime  eight  or  ten 
different  times,  when  I  asked  him  why  he  did  not  go  to 
work  when  he  came  out  of  Caldwell  Prison,  N.  J.,  "Me 
work!  I  will  never  work.  When  I  was  sent  to  prison  for 
the  first  time,  I  received  a  good  deal  of  harsh  treatment. 
I  then  vowed  vengeance  for  the  wrongs  done  me.  No!  I 
will  steal  as  long  as  I  live,  but  I  will  never  work."  When- 
ever I  touched  on  prison  life,  the  subject  awoke  bitterness 
in  his  soul,  and  for  the  time  being  he  spoke  like  a  maniac. 
The  fact  is,  over  fifty  per  cent,  of  all  first  offenders  come 
from  our  penal  institutions,  and  after  a  brief  period  re- 
turn to  crime  again,  unreformed  and  uncured. 

The  prison  authorities  should  always  bear  in  mind  that 
no  matter  how  deep-dyed  in  crime  the  inmates  may  be, 
they  are  moral  beings,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  and 
are  therefore  worth  saving,  and  may  be  saved  if  the  prop- 
er methods  and  influences  are  brought  to  bear  the  right 


238  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

way  on  their  minds  and  lives.  While  there  is  life  there 
is  hope. 

It  is  true,  the  men  in  prison,  no  matter  how  intelligent, 
have  little  influence  over  the  authorities  in  bringing  about 
needed  reforms.  They  are  regarded  as  having  no  right 
to  complain,  nor  even  to  ask  for  favors.  If  they  are 
to  receive  favors,  others  must  speak  in  their  behalf. 
Even  the  suggestions  of  criminals  are  usually  ignored 
by  the  prison  authorities,  as  they  are  supposed  to  be 
moved  by  sentiment,  or  often  by  mercenary  reasons. 

In  dealing  with  crime,  it  should  be  the  settled  policy 
of  the  State  to  use  every  means  possible,  although  some- 
times expensive,  to  bring  about  the  reformation  of  the 
prisoner.  It  is  a  well  known  fact  that  when  a  thief  is 
sent  to  prison,  absolutely  nothing  is  done  to  teach  him 
the  why  and  wherefore  of  the  Eighth  Commandment, 
"Thou  shalt  not  steal."  Out  of  168  hours  in  seven  days, 
one,  or  possibly  two,  hours  are  devoted  to  religious  train- 
ing. If  the  thief,  the  perjurer,  the  gambler,  the  swindler 
and  others  of  that  ilk  are  to  be  reformed,  why  not  use 
means  for  the  accomplishment?  Why  not  have  moral 
and  ethical  teaching,  or  addresses  of  some  kind  daily? 
Every  one  saved  from  a  life  of  wrongdoing  will  neces- 
sarily reduce   the  cost  of  crime! 

Although  all  cruel  and  inhuman  methods  of  punish- 
ment are  forbidden  in  nearly  all  of  our  prisons,  and  the 
punishment  for  crimes  that  is  meted  out  to  criminals  was 
never  so  free  from  malice  and  revenge  as  it  is  to-day,  yet 
we  are  free  to  say  that  as  far  as  prison  reform  is  concerned, 
we  have  not  yet  reached  the  ideal. 

Capital  punishment  as  it  is  practised  at  the  present 
time  is  in  our  opinion  simply  a  relic  of  barbarous  times. 
No  one  on  this  planet  is  authorized  to  take  away  life. 
God  gave  it,  and  He  is  the  only  One  that  can  take  it 
away.     And  no  matter  what  kind  of  punishment  may  be 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  239 

meted  out  to  the  homicide,  the  worst  and  most  foolish 
thing  that  can  be  done  to  him  is  to  put  him  to  death.  It  mat- 
ters little  what  a  man's  crime  is,  if  he  is  to  be  reformed,  he 
should  have  a  future  hope  held  out  to  him,  and  he  should 
realize  it,  provided  he  can  show  by  his  life  that  he  is 
worthy  of  it. 

While  it  is  true  civilization  has  been  in  the  forward 
march  the  past  three  hundred  years,  crime  has  been  slow- 
ly and  perceptibly  on  the  increase;  that  is  to  say,  crime 
has  been  growing  faster  than  the  population.  The  fact 
that  so  many  jails  and  reformatories  are  being 
erected  in  all  the  States  and  Territories  is  evidence 
enough  to  substantiate  that  statement.  Statistics 
show  that  the  growth  of  population  in  this  coun- 
try has  maintained  a  steady  increase  since  1850, 
with  an  average  perhaps  of  about  thirty  per  cent, 
each  decade,  while  the  criminal  increase  during  these 
same  periods  will  average  eighty  per  cent.,  or  nearly 
three  times  as  large  as  the  increase  in  population. 

In  former  years  the  methods  in  vogue  for  reforming 
men  and  women  behind  the  bars  were  the  stocks,  the 
dark  cell  or  dungeon,  the  whipping-post  and  the  tread- 
mill, nearly  all  of  which  have  been  abolished  during  the 
past  century,  and  more  humane  methods  have  been  used, 
we  are  glad  to  say,  which  is  a  cause  for  rejoicing  among 
Christian  people  everywhere. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  greatest  needs  of  the  prisons  of 
this  country  is  their  complete  divorce  from  politics  and 
their  reorganization  on  business  principles  of  merit  and 
capability.  While  it  is  true  that  the  civil  service  law, 
which  operates  in  nearly  every  State,  has  raised  the  stand- 
ard of  merit  among  the  prison  officiary,  notwithstanding 
inferior  men,  entirely  unfitted  for  such  work,  creep  into 
these  institutions  as  a  reward  for  political   services. 

But   it  is  also   true  that  the   prisons  of  the  twentieth 


240  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

century  are  as  far  advanced  from  those  of  the  middle 
ages  as  those  of  the  middle  ages  are  ahead  of  the  prisons 
that  existed  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era.  In  those 
days  jails  were  little  better  than  hog  pens,  perhaps  much 
like  the  old  cistern  into  which  they  thrust  Jeremiah  the 
prophet,  when  they  let  him  down  with  cords,  and  where 
his  feet  sank  in  the  mire.  Such  prisons  were  places  of 
pestilential  horror,  cold  and  damp,  from  which  the  sun- 
light was  entirely  excluded,  and  where  the  chains  often 
rusted  on  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  prisoners. 

The  evolution  of  the  prison  has  been  a  long,  dark, 
cruel  process,  as  it  did  not  excite  the  interest  and  sym- 
pathy of  the  church  till  within  recent  times.  It  is  ad- 
mitted now  that  prison  reform  began  with  Jesus  Christ, 
who,  when  He  had  conquered  death  and  hell  on  the 
Cross,  went  up  to  glory  with  the  blood-washed  soul  of 
a  repentant  prisoner  in  His  arms,  leading  captivity  cap- 
tive. From  this  time  on,  the  era  of  seeking  to  save  and 
help  the  prisoner  began.  But  it  did  not  make  the  ad- 
vances it  should  have  made  till  the  days  of  John  Howard, 
who  is  called  the  morning  star  of  prison  reform. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  no  efforts  are  put  forth 
to  raise  the  moral  tone  of  our  prison  management.  In 
Great  Britain  and  the  Continent  of  Europe,  there  are 
schools  for  the  proper  training  of  prison  officials.  In 
these  schools  are  taught  the  military  spirit,  alertness, 
courteous  behavior,  and  quick  movements  in  case  of 
emergency.  But  it  is  doubtful  if  in  any  of  the  schools 
they  teach  the  officers  to  appeal  to  the  better  nature  of  the 
prisoners  for  any  permanent  reform.  The  work  of  a  mod- 
ern prison  is  largely  one  of  punishment  and  repression. 
There  are  no  lectures  on  hygiene  and  sanitation,  nor  on 
manliness  or  how  to  resist  temptations,  nor  is  anything 
done  to  incite  them  to  live  a  new  life,  except  what  comes 
through  the  Chaplain,  and  that  only  once  a  week; 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  241 

In  studying  the  early  stages  of  lawlessness  from  the 
rudest  times  to  the  present  day,  I  am  satisfied  that  crime 
grows  on  the  mind  by  insensible  degrees,  and  shows  it- 
self only  at  the  propitious  time  when  the  overt  act  brings 
the   individual   into   prominence. 

I  also  believe  that  a  certain  class  of  delinquents  are 
made  more  vicious  by  prison  life,  simply,  because  their 
moral  instincts  are  already  perverted,  and  by  the  lives 
they  have  led  in  the  past.  Such  hopeless  people  should 
be  sent  to  lunatic  asylums,  rather  than  to  prisons,  as  we 
believe  they  are  more  in  need  of  medical  treatment  than 
punishment. 

One  of  the  most  needed  reforms  of  the  present  century 
is  the  necessity  of  putting  forth  more  efforts  to  save  be- 
ginners in  crime.  ,  In  many  of  our  prisons,  criminals  are 
huddled  together  like  sheep,  and  as  a  result  the  young 
offender  learns  more  evil  in  one  week  from  old  crooks 
than  ever  he  knew  before.  There  is  nobody  to  blame 
for  this  but  the  old  methods  that  are  still  in  vogue. 
Often  criminals  are  driven  to  crime  by  motives  gen- 
erated in  a  vicious  nature,  and  as  they  are  too  weak  to 
resist  the  high  pressure  of  modern  temptations,  they  soon 
become  law-breakers.  It  is  foolish  to  talk  of  the  crimi- 
nal classes,  but  criminal  individuals.  Criminality  is  sim- 
ply the  darkened  side  of  a  human  life,  showing  itself  in 
deeds  of  wickedness  and  rebellion.  Anybody  under  the 
dominion  and  power  of  the  Evil  One  will  dare  to  com- 
mit the  most  atrocious  crime  on  record,  and  will  not 
think  of  the  consequences  at  the  time. 

I  am  satisfied  that  the  reclamation  of  the  criminal, 
and  his  restoration  to  society,  a  saved  man,  should  be 
the  first  duty  of  every  well  organized  prison. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  greatest  barrier  in  the 
way  of  reforming  and  saving  the  prisoner  is  found  in  our 
antiquated  methods  of  dealing  with  him.     Whatever  else 


242  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

imprisonment  is  to-day,  it  certainly  does  not  reform  the 
unfortunates  who  are  sent  there.  Hundreds  and  thou- 
sands of  lives  have  been  blasted  forever  by  prison  life, 
that  might  have  been  saved  if  proper  efforts  had  been 
made  at  the  right  time  to  place  them  on  parole  before  be- 
ing sent  to  prison.  All  first  offenders  should  get  a  chance 
by  being  paroled. 


INSiDE  AND  OUT  243 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

STRONG  DRINK  AND  CRIME 

From  actual  observation  as  a  Prison  Chaplain,  and  a 
careful  study  of  this  subject  extending  over  several  years, 
together  with  repeated  interrogations  and  conversations 
with  thousands  of  prison  inmates,  committed  thereto  for 
every  crime  on  the  calendar;  and,  further,  from  person- 
al inquiry  among  experienced  prison  officials  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  I  say  frankly  without  any  hesitation 
or  equivocation  that  strong  drink  is  the  most  prolific 
cause  of  crime  in  the  United  States.  I  further  affirm  that 
after  thousands  of  personal  conversations  with  men  and 
women  charged  with  murder,  robbery,  assault  and  every 
form  of  larceny,  and  from  interviews  with  criminal  judges 
and  magistrates,  I  firmly  believe  that  from  seventy  to 
eighty  per  cent,  of  all  the  crimes  of  the  day  can  be  traced 
directly  or  indirectly  to  strong  drink.  I  have  said  more 
than  once  in  public  addresses,  in  the  past  twelve  years, 
that  if  the  saloons  of  this  city  were  outlawed  for  two 
years,  the  prisons  of  Greater  New  York  would  be  almost 
tenantless. 

I  believe  the  only  way  to  reduce  crime  is  to  stop  the  man- 
ufacture and  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  which  in  the 
end  will  close  the  gin-mils  that  swarm  our  cities  and  vil- 
lages, and  which  are  the  real  generators  of  crime. 

We  deeply  regret  that  many  of  our  well  meaning  peo- 
ple are  poorly  informed  on  this  question.  They  look  with 
longing  eyes  for  help  from  our  State  and  National  political 
partisans  for  the  overthrow  of  this  traffic,  but  these  fond 
idols  of  the  people  care  nothing  whatever  for  moral  re- 
forms.   They  are  in  politics  only  for  what  they  can  make 


244  S1V    YORK    TOMBS 

out  of  it,  and  not  for  the  reformation  of  the  people,  and 
are  indulgent  toward  the  saloon  vote. 

Some  time  ago,  a  New  York  paper  gave  a  list  of  per- 
sons who  were  confined  in  the  City  Prison  charged  with 
the  crime  of  homicide.  In  this  list  the  names  of  thirty 
men,  two  women  and  a  boy  were  given.  They  were  then 
awaiting  trial  for  murder.  All  of  them  have  since  been 
tried,  with  the  result  that  several  have  been  sent  to  the 
death  house  at  Sing  Sing,  a  large  number  to  prison  for 
long  and  short  terms,  and  a  few  discharged 
lack  of  evidence.  In  an  analysis  which  we  personally 
made  at  that  time  we  counted  twenty-five  persons  who  ad- 
mitted that  they  were  under  the  influence  of  strong  drink 
when   they   committed  the   crime  of  murder. 

At  that  time,  Dr.  Robert  S.  Newton,  a  New  York  phy- 
sician and  specialist  in  mental  disorders,  presented  a 
carefully  prepared  paper  on  the  causes  that  led  to  mur- 
der in  each  case,  but,  strange  to  say,  he  does  not  mention 
strong  drink,  although  that  was  the  principal  direct  cause 
of  twenty-five  out  of  the  thirty-three  cases.  Dr.  Newton 
never  met  any  of  these  persons  mentioned  in  this  article, 
charged  with  the  crime  of  murder,  nor  had  he  any  con- 
versation with  them  before  or  after  their  imprisonment, 
but  simply  from  the  standpoint  of  an  alienist,  he  presents 
a  speculative  analysis  of  what  he  considered  the  ca. 
that  led  to  their  crimes. 

I  met  all  of  these  people  face  to  face,  conversed  with 
them,  and  watched  their  trials  in  the  Criminal  Courts  till 
finally  disposed  of.  Most  of  them  made  voluntary  state- 
ments in  relation  to  their  crime,  and  I  was  painfully  struck 
with  almost  the  identical  words  from  the  lips  of  each,  and 
all  of  these  men,  who  closed  the  narrative  by  saying:  "I 
was  drunk  at  the  time,  and  did  not  know  what  I  was  do- 
ing." They  did  not  say  this  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
sympathy,  or  apologizing  for  their  crime,   but  simply  a-- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  245 

mined   that  strong   drink   made   them   ha.lf-ir.saue.   and   in 
that  state  they  committed  the  crime  of  murder. 

With    :n!y  the  names   :f  the   actcr-s   and  victims  before 

u:-m;:ies  in  detail.    This  is  what  he  savs  hv  wav  ;:  exrla- 


New  York  is  one  ::'  the  hardest  r'.aces  in  the  world  in 

:  analyze  crime.    One  ::'  :he  chief  motives  ::  ;::::e 

is  the   publicity   given   ::    it.     I:   allows   every   cniminal   :: 

keep   thorcugh.lv  r:sted   as   ::  what  is   d:ne  with   his  own 

class    what  is   the    character    ::    the    punishment,    and    the 

nal  re   numer:us  :.:5e>    -   which   :he>    acted  as 

intermediaries         And    further   he    says:        1    relieve    that 

New  York  v. i thin  the   last  re*   mcnths  is  eve  sclels   t:   the 


gn 
i  1  v 


eves    dens.     In  nc   :.::     n  the 


•     enter  rerut  tels    restaurants    theatres,  etc      Th; 

-     -'.-.    less  crime  in   the   large   ::ntinental   cities   than 

here     but  c  —  e     -   sure!\    runished      When   the    rerutable 

.    ::  assaulted    he  n::;->  ::  suspects  where 

the  criminal  came  from,  bofl  criminals  eo  eveivwheie, 


New   York   C:t\    is   ret    the    worst   ;f   tue    c  :  es    ;; 


246  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

United  States  in  the  matter  of  its  suicide  statistics.  By 
actual  comparison  it  is  only  fifth  on  the  list,  St.  Louis  hav- 
ing the  unenviable  distinction  of  being  first  in  this  regard. 
It  is  a  curious  reflection  that  St.  Louis,  with  its  German 
population  and  the  reputation  the  city  has  acquired  for 
the  manufacture,  if  not  the  consumption,  of  a  large  amount 
of  high-grade  beer,  should  occupy  the  same  place  in  sui- 
cide statistics  that  was  held  for  a  long  time  by  Munich,  in 
Bavaria,  which  enjoys  the  distinction  of  supremacy  in 
the  same  line  of  business." 

In  General  Bingham's  report  for  1907,  it  is  recorded  that 
the  New  York  police  arrested  204,119  for  the  year.  Out 
of  this  number  no  less  than  92,045  persons  were  arrested 
for  intoxication,  disorderly  conduct,  and  the  violation  of 
the  Liquor  Tax  Law.  As  can  be  readily  seen,  all  of  these 
arrests  were  the  direct  result  of  the  licensed  saloon.  In 
other  words,  if  there  were  no  saloons  or  intoxicants  in  this 
city,  more  than  92,000  persons  would  have  been  immune 
from  arrest  and  imprisonment.  These  facts  speak  for 
themselves,  and  need  not  the  impassioned  eloquence  of 
the  orator  to  make  them  clear. 

In  his  report  for  1908,  the  Commissioner  omits  all  men- 
tion of  the  arrests  for  intoxication  and  disorderly  conduct, 
but  places  these  offences  under  the  head  of  misdemeanors. 
This  was  done,  no  doubt,  to  ease  the  consciences  of  the 
rum  and  beer  interests,  who  do  not  want  to  see  in  cold 
type  the  number  of  persons  who  are  daily  ruined  by  this 
damnable  business. 

Last  year  there  were  244,000  arrests  in  Greater  New 
York.  Judging  from  the  figures  of  other  years,  one  half 
must  be  laid  at  the  door  of  the  saloon. 

The  following  table,  which  we  received  from  the  State 
Department  of  Excise,  shows  the  number  of  liquor  tax 
certificates   in   force,   and  the    money  received    therefor. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  247 

This  table  covers  what  are  known  as  the  five  boroughs  of 
Greater  New  York : 

LIQUOR   TAX    CERTIFICATES   AND    MONEY    RECEIVED. 

No.  Ctfs.      Money 
Boroughs  in  Force.    Received. 

Manhattan  and  the  Bronx 7,015     $7,876,561  09 

Brooklyn    3,836       3,632,191   91 

Queens   1,344  513,095  65 

Richmond   479  181,523  75 

Total   12,674  $12,203,372  40 

From  these  figures  it  will  be  seen  that  the  license  tax 
paid  the  State  for  the  privilege  of  selling  rum,  which 
damns  our  fellow  men,  amounted  in  1907  to  $12,203,- 
372.40. 

In  an  article  of  mine  which  appeared  in  Harper's 
Weekly  for  March,  1907,  I  computed  the  cost  of  crime  in 
Greater  New  York,  in  a  tabulated  statement,  at  $35,552,- 
134.34,  which  is  about  a  third  of  the  entire  expense  appro- 
priated by  the  Board  of  Apportionment  for  running  the  city 
for  the  year. 

It  ought  to  be  known  that  the  churches,  chapels  and  mis- 
sion halls  of  Greater  New  York,  of  all  denominations,  Pro- 
testant, Catholic  and  Jewish,  number  1,200.  The  num- 
ber of  licensed  saloons,  on  the  other  hand,  in  these  bor- 
oughs, is  12,674.  That  is  to  say,  the  Devil  has  more  than 
ten  saloons  in  Greater  New  York  for  every  church.  This 
is  a  sad  reflection  on  our  Christian  civilization.  But  it  is 
true. 

The  cost  of  the  congregational  and  charitable  work  of 
the  1,200  churches  and  chapels  of  Greater  New  York  is 
not  more  than  $8,000,000  a  year — possibly  less. 

But  the  gross  receipts  of  the  12,674  New  York  gin  mills 
are  not  far  from  $250,000,000  a  year! 


248  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE  ANGELS  OF  THE  TOMBS 

To  a  score  at  least  of  ladies  of  every  nationality,  creed 
and  culture  was  the  term  Tombs  Angel  given  the  past 
seventy  years.  But  out  of  this  number  only  two  ladies  by 
their  good  deeds  had  obtained  a  distinct  and  permanent 
claim  to  the  title.  These  were  Mrs.  Ernestine  Schaffner 
and  Mrs.  John  A.  Foster.  The  first  of  these  ladies  was  a 
native  of  Hesse-Cassel,  Germany.  She  began  her  labors 
in  the  city  prison  more  than  thirty  years  ago,  and  became 
noted  for  her  generous  and  valorous  deeds.  Being  a  widow 
and  in  good  circumstances,  she  was  able  to  contribute  time 
and  money  to  aid  the  unfortunate,  so  that  her  services  were 
in  great  demand.  As  she  was  the  owner  of  some  real  es- 
tate in  this  county,  she  was  able  to  furnish  bonds  to  hun- 
dreds of  prisoners,  many  of  whom  after  they  had  secured 
their  liberty  skipped  the  country. 

To  facilitate  matters  in  her  chosen  work,  Mrs.  Schaffner 
opened  a  law  office  on  Centre  street,  where  friends  and  rel- 
atives of  prisoners  could  call  and  consult  her  on  all  legal 
matters,  without  money  or  price.  On  many  occasions, 
the  late  Recorder  Smyth,  for  the  sake  of  protecting  her 
from  lying  crooks,  refused  to  take  her  on  a  bail  bond. 
Although  her  work  was  entirely  of  a  humanitarian  char- 
acter, she  helped  all  persons  without  regard  to  creed,  race 
or  nationality.  It  might  be  interesting  to  know  that  the 
first  case  that  attracted  Mrs.  Schaffner's  attention  to  prison 
work  was  the  attempted  suicide  in  the  East  River  of  a 
young  German.     After  he  was  fished  out  of  the  water,  he 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  249 

was  committed  to  the  Tombs  Prison,  where  Mrs.  Schaffner 
sought  him  out,  took  a  deep  interest  in  his  case,  greatly 
encouraged  him,  went  on  his  bail  bond,  furnished  him  with 
a  lawyer,  and  finaly  secured  his  discharge.  Mrs.  Schaffner 
was  a  very  charitable  lady,  and  did  many  acts  of  kindness 
from  time  to  time,  for  the  inmates  of  the  Tombs. 

About  ten  years  ago  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  her, 
and  talking  over  her  early  labors  in  the  City  Prison.  She 
seemed  to  be  a  very  interesting  woman,  and  intelligent.  If 
she  had  written  a  book  on  her  experiences  with  crooks  and 
how  they  had  disappointed  and  deceived  her  after  she  had 
expended  on  them  $50,000,  she  would  have  chronicled 
lies  big  enough  to  make  your  hair  stand.  It  is  said  she  died 
in  poor  circumstances,  about  six  years  ago. 

The  second  Tombs  "Angel"  was  Mrs.  Rebecca  Salome 
Foster,  the  widow  of  Gen.  John  A.  Foster,  a  veteran  of  the 
Civil  War.  She  began  her  philanthropic  work  as  a  "Prison 
Angel"  about  the  year  1886-7.  She  was  a  woman  of  much 
ability  and  considerable  force  of  character.  She  was  quick 
in  her  movements,  generous  to  a  fault,  and  ready  to  help 
everyone  in  time  of  need,  regardless  of  creed,  color  or 
race,  and,  of  course,  was  often  greatly  imposed  upon  by 
people  who  used  her  for  selfish  purposes. 

As  her  husband  was  a  well  known  lawyer  in  his 
day,  and  had  been  a  general  in  the  Civil  War,  this  fact 
gave  Mrs.  Foster  at  the  start  a  great  amount  of  influence 
with  judges  and  magistrates,  which  would  have  taken 
others  of  lesser  note  many  years  to  acquire. 

At  first  she  confined  her  labors  to  the  Police  Courts  and 
District  Prisons,  where  she  gave  help  to  women  and  girls 
who  had  been  locked  up  for  petty  offences.  But  for  the 
last  ten  years  of  her  life  she  confined  her  labors  to  the 
Tombs  Prison  almost  exclusively. 

It  is  interesting  to  know  how  Mrs.  Foster  began  what 
proved  to  be  her  life  work  as  an  angel  of  mercy  among  pris- 


250  NEW  YORK   TOMBS 

oners.  As  I  received  it  directly  from  her  own  lips,  I  feel 
sure  that  I  have  the  true  account  of  what  is  generally  be- 
lieved to  be  the  beginning  of  a  most  useful  life.  The 
whole  thing  seems  to  be  providential,  and  clearly  shows 
how  the  channels  of  a  life  may  be  changed  for  good  by  an 
insignificant  event. 

When  General  Foster  was  yet  alive,  Mrs.  Foster  was 
called  upon  to  go  hurriedly  to  a  police  court  to  intercede 
on  behalf  of  a  boy  twelve  years  of  age,  the  son  of  a  washer 
woman,  who  worked  occasionally  around  the  Foster  home. 
The  boy  had  been  arrested  for  a  petty  offence,  and  General 
Foster  had  agreed  to  defend  him  in  the  Police  Court,  as  he 
was  innocent  of  any  crime,  but  on  the  day  when  his  case 
was  to  be  called,  the  General  was  too  ill  to  leave  his  room. 
He  accordingly  sent  Mrs.  Foster  with  a  note  to  Magistrate 
Hogan,  who  was  then  sitting  at  Jefferson  Market  Police 
Court,  asking  for  an  adjournment  of  the  case.  When  Mrs. 
Foster  reached  the  court,  the  case  was  then  on,  and  when 
the  opportunity  came  she  made  such  a  powerful  plea  that 
the  Magistrate  discharged  the  boy.  He  then  thanked  Mrs. 
Foster  for  the  interest  she  took  in  the  case,  and  as  she  was 
about  to  leave,  the  Court  called  her  attention  to  the  case 
of  a  young,  homeless  girl,  who  had  been  arrested  that  day 
for  soliciting  on  the  street.  The  Magistrate  asked  Mrs. 
Foster  to  investigate  the  girl's  story  before  he  took  final 
action,  as  he  did  not  wish  to  send  her  to  the  Island,  where 
she  would  be  ruined  by  association  with  the  depraved 
inmates  of  the  work  house.  Mrs.  Foster  made  the  investi- 
gation, had  her  paroled  in  her  own  custody,  and  then  sent 
her  home  to  another  part  of  the  country.  By  these  acts 
of  kindness,  the  girl  was  saved. 

One  of  the  most  celebrated  cases  of  the  day,  that  brought 
Mrs.  Foster's  name  prominently  before  the  public,  was  the 
trial  and  conviction  of  Maria  Barberi,  for  the  murder  of 
Dominico  Catalonia,  in  July,   1895.     Miss  Barberi  was  a 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  251 

woman  of  considerable  intelligence.  She  had  been  great- 
ly wronged  by  her  lover,  who  refused  to  marry  her.  While 
suffering  mental  agony  brought  on  by  remorse  of  con- 
science, when  she  saw  herself  ruined  and  disgraced  as  she 
then  was,  she  killed  Catalonia. 

While  she  lay  in  the  Tombs  Prison,  Mrs.  Foster  took  a 
deep  interest  in  the  case  of  this  Italian  woman,  and  aided 
her  in  every  way  possible.  During  her  trial  in  the  Crimi- 
nal Court  Building,  she  stood  by  her  side  as  her  best  friend. 
The  jury  found  her  guilty.  On  the  day  she  was 
sentenced  to  the  electric  chair,  she  swooned  when 
brought  to  the  bar.  As  she  lay  in  the  arms 
of  Mrs.  Foster,  the  Recorder  passed  sentence  of  death  on 
her.  The  same  day  she  was  taken  to  the  State  Prison. 
Being  in  a  state  of  nervous  collapse,  Mrs.  Foster  accom- 
panied her  to  Sing  Sing,  and  was  locked  in  the  same  cell 
with  her  from  5:30  p.  m.  until  8:00  next  morning.  That 
was  a  sad  and  dreary  night  to  Mrs.  Foster,  and  seemed  long 
enough  to  be  a  year!  In  that  cell  Maria  Barberi,  utterly 
exhausted,  slept  and  moaned  alternately  all  night,  obliv- 
ious of  her  dismal  surroundings.  During  the  entire  period 
Mrs.  Foster  ministered  to  her  needs.  There  was  a  solemn 
stillness  everywhere  in  that  sepulchre  of  the  living  during 
those  fifteen  hours.  And  the  only  sounds  that  could  be 
heard  were  the  tramp,  tramp,  tramp  of  the  keepers  and 
guards  as  they  patrolled  the  yards  and  corridors  of  the  great 
prison. 

In  the  morning,  Miss  Barberi  was  so  far  recovered  that 
she  could  be  left  alone,  and  Mrs.  Foster  returned  to  New 
York. 

After  that  night,  prison  life  was  no  longer  a  theory 
to  the  Tombs  Angel,  but  a  stern  reality. 

Mrs.  Foster  could  enter  into  the  fullest  sympathy  with 
such  people,  and  give  them  encouragement.  The  follow- 
ing year,  the  Court  of  Appeals  granted  Miss   Barberi  a 


252  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

new  trial,  and  she  was  in  the  end  acquitted,  and  is  said  to 
be  living  in  this  city  at  present. 

Mrs.  Foster  was  killed  at  the  Park  Avenue  Hotel  fire, 
in  March,  1901,  and  her  untimely  death  has  been  deeply 
regretted. 

Prison  Angels  are  born — not  made.  Many  persons  have 
tried  to  be  an  "Angel  to  the  Prisoners,"  but  have  failed, 
as  no  amount  of  training  can  make  one. 

Mrs.  Foster  during  her  long  and  useful  life,  was  a  very 
charitable  lady,  and  in  course  of  a  year  gave  away  much 
money,  clothing,  shoes  and  railroad  tickets  and  meals,  to 
hundreds  of  men  and  women  as  they  came  out  of  prison. 
That  she  had  been  deceived  scores  of  times  by  worthless 
"fakirs"  cannot  be  denied,  yet  she  continued  in  this  thank- 
less work  down  till  her  untimely  death.  In  early  life,  she 
had  the  means  to  give  away,  and  she  gave  it  with  a  lavish 
hand.  But  much  of  the  money,  clothing  and  railroad  tick- 
ets which  she  so  generously  gave  to  "panhandlers"  and 
crooks  just  out  of  prison  was  worse  than  wasted,  as  a  great 
deal  of  it  went  for  drink,  and  before  long  all  those  "bums" 
which  she  had  helped  were  back  in  the  Tombs  again.  I 
can  recall  at  the  present  moment  a  person  of  this  charac- 
ter, receiving  money  from  Mrs.  Foster  on  a  Sunday  after- 
noon to  go,  as  he  said,  to  his  home  in  Connecticut,  where 
he  said  his  friends  would  give  him  employment.  She  was 
careful  when  she  gave  him  the  railroad  fare  to  hand  him 
a  postal  card,  requesting  him  to  write  a  few  lines  when 
he  arrived  at  his  destination.  For  weeks  afterwards, 
whenever  I  met  her,  I  asked  her  if  she  had  heard  from  the 
fellow  whose  fare  she  had  paid  to  Connecticut.  But  she 
always  replied  in  the  negative.  That  worthless  fellow  was 
a  sample  of  hundreds  of  others  who  had  been  befriended, 
but  who  used  the  money  for  drink.  My  own  impression  was 
that  he  never  left  the  city.  When  I  afterwards  came  to 
place  him,  I  found  that  his  name  was  Murray.       I    then 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  253 

remembered  that  he  was  a  chronic  "dead  beat/'  and  always 
took  a  special  delight  in  swindling  tender-hearted  humani- 
tarians. 

One  of  the  last  cases  that  Mrs.  Foster  took  an  interest  in 
before  her  death  was  that  of  Florence  Burns,  who  was 
charged  with  the  murder  of  a  young  man  named  Brooks. 
The  examination  took  place  in  the  Court  of  Special  Ses- 
sions, before  Justice  Meyers,  who  acted  the  part  of  a  sit- 
ting magistrate.  The  District  Attorney  was  represented  by 
one  of  his  assistants,  and  ex-District  Attorney  Backus,  of 
Brooklyn,  represented  the  defendant.  Justice  Meyers,  who 
is  the  personification  of  fairness  in  his  rulings,  satisfied 
both  sides.  During  the  hearing,  which  lasted  several  days, 
Mrs.  Foster  stood  by  the  young  woman  as  her  best  friend, 
when  all  others  had  apparently  forsaken  her.  But 
this  is  just  the  kind  of  work  Mrs.  Foster  had  been  do- 
ing— of  the  most  unselfish  and  loving  character  to  prison 
unfortunates  for  nearly  twenty  years.  A  year  or  two  before 
her  death,  a  couple  of  lying  officials  of  the  Tombs  told  her 
an  untruthful  story  about  one  of  the  missionaries.  As  soon 
as  she  learned  how  these  officials  had  deceived  her,  she 
shunned  them  forever  afterwards. 

As  is  well  known,  some  of  the  habitues  of  "Bummers'  " 
Hall  become  very  religious  after  their  own  way,  and  are 
ready  to  believe  in  any  or  all  the  creeds  of  Christendom, 
provided  they  can  make  a  few  dollars  out  of  the  credu- 
lous. 

I  have  found  that  when  these  fellows  try  to  sell  you 
a  "gold  brick"  or  borrow  money  from  you,  the  best  thing 
to  do  is  to  "drop  them."  Nearly  all  of  them  possess  un- 
limited cheek,  more  especially  as  borrowers  and  beggars. 
After  they  have  duped  you,  they  chuckle  over  their  smart- 
ness. 

A  Tombs  keeper  asked  one  of  these  chronic  "pan- 
handlers" why  he  did  not  buy  his  own  tobacco.     He  re- 


254  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

plied :  "What's  the  use,  when  you  have  so  many  'suckers' 
around  here?"  A  maiden  lady,  the  daughter  of  a  city  cler- 
gyman, was  in  the  habit  of  doing  missionary  work  in  the 
prison. 

In  those  days,  there  was  a  tall,  slick  gentleman,  who  had 
a  remarkable  oily  tongue.  He  occupied  a  cell  in  the  old 
prison,  immediately  behind  the  desk.  This  crook  was  able 
to  ingratiate  himself  into  the  affections  of  this  young  lady, 
so  that  he  was  able  to  secure  from  her  no  less  than  seventy 
to  one  hundred  dollars,  together  with  a  good  deal  of  warm 
clothing,  and  two  or  three  meals  prepared  at  her  own  home 
weekly.  With  the  money  received,  he  had  one  of  Begg's 
men  fetch  a  pint  of  "booze"  daily.  When  it  was  discovered 
he  was  immediately  shipped  to  the  "Annex,"  and  all  his 
privileges  cut  off.  Soon  after  this  he  was  sent  to  Sing 
Sing,  where  he  served  about  five  full  years. 

It  is  the  commonest  thing  in  the  world  for  a  crook  to 
ask  the  assistance  of  a  lady  missionary  to  get  him  out 
of  prison,  and  present  a  "gold  brick"  story  that  is  nothing 
but  deception  and  fabrication  from  first  to  last.  After 
hearing  hundreds  of  these  stories  made  out  of  "whole 
cloth,"  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  criminals,  with 
rare  exceptions,  are  born  liars,  and  they  seldom  tell  the 
truth,  although  it  would  do  them  far  more  good  in  the  end. 
I  have  found  by  careful  observation  that  anyone  who  has 
started  in  to  cover  up  his  guilt  with  lies  is  in  a  hopeless 
state  of  depravity,  and  remains  beyond  the  reach  of  even 
the  Gospel.  But  it  is  not  alone  missionaries  and  Tombs 
Angels  that  are  deceived  by  such  characters,  but  all  who 
give  credence  to  what  they  say. 

Crooks  as  a  rule  read  the  missionary's  character,  and 
soon  find  out  who  are  the  "easy  marks"  in  the  prison. 
As  soon  as  they  find  a  person — usually  a  woman  who  is 
sympathetic — they  pour  into  her  ear  a  tale  of  woe  in  which 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  255 

the  crook  presents  a  real  case  of  injured  innocence  and 
persecution. 

Oftentimes  people  living  at  a  distance  write  to  the  au- 
thorities asking  that  something  be  done  to  save  heinous 
offenders  who  are  not  entitled  to  any  sympathy  whatever. 
And  many  times  young  ladies  of  good  breeding  and  respec- 
tability come  to  the  Tombs  and  ask  to  see  old  crooks  whose 
pictures  they  had  perhaps  seen  in  the  morning  papers. 


256  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER   XXXII. 
WEDDINGS  IN  THE  TOMBS  PRISON 

Marriages  have  been  performed  in  the  Tombs  Prison 
since  it  was  first  opened  in  1838,  by  clergymen  of  all  de- 
nominations, Protestant,  Catholic  and  Jewish,  without  the 
least  objection.  During  its  long  and  eventful  history  it 
may  be  said  truthfully  that  Cupid's  arrows  have  penetrated 
the  gloomy  old  walls  of  this  dark  prison  scores  of  times, 
where  in  such  cases  the  love-making  ended  in  a  marriage 
ceremony  in  which  two  hearts  were  made  one. 

It  ought  further  to  be  said  that  these  Tombs  weddings  are 
of  two  kinds:  Voluntary  and  involuntary.  The  latter  kind 
is  performed  at  the  request  of  the  Judges  of  Special  Ses- 
sions. When  a  woman  goes  to  the  Superintendent  of  Out- 
door Relief  in  this  city,  and  swears  that  she  and  her  babe 
are  liable  to  be  a  town  charge  because  John  Doe,  the  father 
of  her  illegitimate  child  refuses  to  give  them  a  support,  he 
is  forthwith  arrested.  If  convicted  after  a  fair  trial,  he  is 
given  the  alternative  of  going  to  prison  for  a  year,  marry- 
ing the  girl,  or  paying  her  a  weekly  allowance.  As  a  rule, 
if  poor,  he  marries  her,  as  the  easiest  way  out  of  his  trou- 
bles. As  soon  as  the  knot  is  tied,  "they  go  on  their  way 
rejoicing,"  provided  everything  is  all  right,  and  the  case 
against  him  falls  to  the  ground. 

We  regret  to  say  that  many  of  these  marriages  are  a 
failure,  simply  because  the  male  end  of  the  contract  gets 
mad  at  being  forced  into  matrimony  against  his  will, 
even  though  he  knows  that  he  has  ruined  that  girl.  As 
there  is  seldom  any  love  in  such  a    match,    we    find    in 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  257 

a  great  many  cases  after  the  ceremony  is  performed,  the 
man  runs  away.  The  only  redeeming  thing  about  the  mar- 
riage is  that  it  has  saved  the  name  of  the  mother  and 
child  from  lasting  disgrace.  And  from  henceforth  she  has 
a  claim  upon  him  for  legal  support,  no  matter  where  he 
may  go.  Of  course,  I  always  explain  the  nature  of  such 
a  marriage  to  the  bridal  candidate.  If  she  is  willing  to 
take  her  chances  in  the  lottery  of  life,  and  is  satisfied,  I 
am  always  willing  to  do  my  part  to  help  her  with  my  ser- 
vices, and  for  this  reason,  if  he  refuses  to  live  with  her,  she 
can  compel  him  to  pay  her  alimony  in  any  part  of  the 
United  States. 

But  the  marriages  that  attracted  the  most  attention  dur- 
ing these  years  were  of  persons  who  really  wished  to  be 
man  and  wife,  from  choice.  Of  course,  their  wish  is  not 
always  granted,  for  reasons  best  known  to  the  authorities. 
The  first  marriage  of  this  character  which  excited  the  peo- 
ple of  the  city  was  that  of  John  C.  Colt,  who  was  convicted 
of  the  murder  of  Samuel  Adams.  This  marriage  took  place 
November  18th,  1842.  During  the  time  that  Colt  lay  in 
the  Tombs  he  was  repeatedly  visited  by  one  Caroline  Hen- 
shaw,  who  had  been  his  common-law  wife.  As  they  had 
never  been  legally  married,  Colt  expressed  a  wish  that 
they  should  be  made  husband  and  wife  before  his  execu- 
tion. The  authorities  at  first  refused  to  give  the  necessary 
consent,  but  afterwards  gave  permission  and  agreed  that 
it  should  take  place  on  the  day  of  his  execution,  which 
was  fixed  for  November  18th,  1842.  At  11  :30  on  the  fa- 
tal day,  the  bride  appeared  at  the  condemned  cell,  neatly 
attired  in  a  straw  bonnet,  green  shawl,  claret  colored  cloak 
trimmed  with  red  cord,  and  a  muff. 

Colt  was  remarkably  cheerful  for  a  man  who  was  to 
die  four  hours  afterwards,  but  it  was  his  wedding  day,  and 
when  should  a  man  be  cheerful  if  not  that  day?  The  cer- 
emony, which  took  place  in  the  condemned  cell,  was  wit- 


258  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

nessed  by  Judge  Merritt,  the  Sheriff  of  the  County,  Colt's 
brother,  John  Howard  Payne,  the  author  of  "Home,  Sweet 
Home,"  and  several  others.  The  bride  and  groom  were 
allowed  to  be  alone  for  one  hour,  after  which  he  must  pre- 
pare for  death. 

Two  hours  after  she  left  him  to  change  orange  blossoms 
for  sombre  weeds,  the  sheriff  and  his  deputies  went  to  his 
cell  to  escort  him  to  the  scaffold,  which  was  all  ready,  when 
to  their  amazement,  they  found  that  Colt  was  dead.  The 
gallows  had  been  cheated  of  its  victim.  The  honeymoon  of 
an  hour  was  past,  and  he  was  cold  in  death. 

Protestant  chaplains  more  than  once  have  been  severely 
criticised  for  performing  marriages  in  the  Tombs  Prison  at 
the  request  of  the  authorities,  but  when  marriages  were  per- 
formed by  Catholic  priests  in  the  same  place,  there  was  no 
publicity  given,  nor  were  they  in  the  least  criticised. 

On  June  29th,  1897,  a  man  named  Max  H.  was  married 
to  an  actress  on  the  train  between  New  York  and  Sing  Sing. 
Max  had  just  received  a  sentence  of  four  years  and  six 
months  in  State  Prison.  He  had  asked  the  authorities  to 
allow  him  to  be  married  in  the  Tombs  several  days  be- 
fore, but  they  positively  refused.  At  the  Grand  Central  De- 
pot his  lady  love  boarded  the  same  train  on  which  he  was, 
with  an  Episcopal  minister  named  Lindsay,  who  was  a 
Tombs  missionary.  They  were  bound  to  be  married.  Dave 
Burke  was  deputy  sheriff  in  charge  of  the  prisoners  going 
to  Sing  Sing  that  day.  He  consented  to  the  marriage  of 
Max  and  his  lady  love  on  the  train,  and  they  were  married. 
Cupid  could  not  be  put  off  under  any  circumstances.  The 
marriage  would  not  have  been  known,  but  when  the  com- 
mitment papers  were  carefully  examined  at  State  Prison 
after  the  prisoner's  pedigree  was  given,  it  was  found  that 
when  Max  was  sentenced  he  was  single,  but  when  he 
reached  Sing  Sing  he  was  married.  This  marriage  on  the 
railroad  train  created  a  great  furore  in  New  York,  and  as  a 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  259 

result,  the  deputy  sheriff  was  dismissed,  and  the  minister 
soon  afterwards  left  the  city. 

A  few  years  ago,  Lawyer  Patrick,  who  was  convicted  of 
the  murder  of  Millionaire  Rice,  wished  to  be  married  before 
he  was  sent  to  Sing  Sing,  where  he  has  been  ever  since. 
Mr.  Patrick  took  pains  to  sound  the  feelings  of  the  author- 
ities on  the  subject,  with  the  result  that  objections  were 
made  against  any  such  ceremony  taking  place  in  the  prison. 
But  Cupid  in  this  case  was  smarter  than  the  authorities. 
On  the  Sunday  previous  to  his  receiving  the  death  sentence, 
three  persons  came  to  the  prison,  a  lawyer,  a  friend  and 
Patrick's  lady  love.  The  lawyer  requested  permission  from 
the  Warden  to  see  the  condemned  man,  which  was  granted 
in  the  Women's  Prison,  where  a  civil  contract  was  signed, 
which  made  them  husband  and  wife,  according  to  the  new 
law.     The  following  day  Patrick  was  taken  to  Sing  Sing. 

During  the  past  six  years  a  number  of  convicted  men 
awaiting  trial  have  begged  to  be  married  before  going  to 
prison,  but  I  have  positively  refused,  as  I  found  on  inquiry 
that  the  object  in  view  was  solely  to  secure  clemency  for 
some  miserable  scoundrel  on  the  day  of  sentence.  A  recent 
case  was  that  of  a  girl  named  Stella  Hamilton,  a  native  of 
Connecticut.  She  called  at  the  Tombs  more  than  a  dozen 
of  times,  and  begged  to  be  married  to  a  convict  named 
Williams  or  Willinsky.  This  man  was  a  convicted  pick- 
pocket, and  had  served  three  or  four  terms  in  prison 
already.  She  told  a  romantic  story  that  moved  many  hearts. 
Her  story  was  that  more  than  a  year  ago  she  had  been  saved 
from  drowning  by  this  man,  and  now  she  wished  to  marry 
him  in  return  for  saving  her  life  on  that  occasion.  Since 
then  it  has  turned  out  that  the  whole  romance  was  a  scheme 
to  get  clemency  for  Williams. 

A  few  years  ago,  a  crook  asked  the  Chaplain  to  marry 
him  to  a  woman  he  had  wronged,  and  with  whom  he  had 
lived  as  husband  and  wife.     I  refused,  as  I  knew  him  to 


260  NEW   YORK   TOMES 

have  a  criminal  record.  The  woman  had  not  known  this, 
but  should  have  made  an  inquiry  into  his  character  be- 
fore entering  into  such  an  alliance.  He  wished  the  mar- 
riage to  take  place  so  as  to  secure  sympathy,  and  save  her 
name.  After  he  had  gone  to  prison,  the  woman  followed 
him,  and  asked  the  Warden  to  permit  the  ceremony  to  take 
place,  as  soon  as  possible,  to  save  her  good  name  and  that 
of  the  child,  but  he  refused.  Then  she  called  on  a  Supreme 
Court  Justice,  who  resided  in  the  neighborhood,  and  stated 
her  case  to  him.  The  Judge  gave  her  an  order  which  was 
served  on  the  warden  of  the  Prison,  compelling  him  to  per- 
mit the  marriage  to  take  place,  which  was  performed  by  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel  the  following  day. 

It  seems  the  law  is  very  clear  on  these  things.  If  a  man 
has  wronged  a  woman  under  a  promise  of  marriage,  the 
fact  that  the  man  is  in  prison  does  not  deprive  her  of  her 
rights  before  the  law.  If  they  are  both  willing,  she  can 
marry  him  in  spite  of  busy-bodies,  judges  and  prison  author- 
ities. 


A  scene  in  the  Tenderloin  Station  House  at  midnight. 


MRS.  JOHN  A.  FOSTER, 
The  Tombs  Angel. 


CORNELIUS  V.  COLLINS, 
Superintendent  of  State  Prisons. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  261 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

AFTER  SENTENCE,  WHAT? 

After  a  person  has  been  convicted  of  a  felony  in  New 
York  County,  either  in  the  Criminal  Branch  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  or  in  the  Court  of  General  Sessions,  if  the  sentence 
is  a  year  in  prison,  or  less,  he  is  sent  to  the  New  York  Pen- 
itentiary on  Blackwell's  Island.  But  if  he  is  sent  away  for 
more  than  a  year,  he  is  taken  to  Sing  Sing,  or  Bear  Moun- 
tain, the  new  prison  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Hudson,  where 
if  he  is  a  first  offender,  he  is  detained  till  he  has  finished  his 
time. 

As  soon  as  he  leaves  Court,  he  is  taken  in  charge  by  the 
Sheriff,  or  one  of  his  deputies,  who  hurries  him  off  soon 
after  to  the  prison  destined  for  the  fulfillment  of  the  sen- 
tence. 

In  the  case  of  those  who  have  been  sentenced  to  the  elec- 
tric chair,  they  are  taken  the  same  day  to  the  place  where 
the  sentence  is  to  be  carried  out.  The  reason  for  this  is 
obvious.  While  in  the  Tombs  or  Raymond  Street  jail, 
Brooklyn,  he  is  visited  by  his  friends,  who  might  aid  in  his 
escape  or  death  by  suicide.  As  the  Sheriff  knows  from 
experience  that  it  is  best  to  take  no  chances,  he  hurries 
him  to  prison  at  once.  After  he  reaches  the  death  house, 
he  is  never  again  allowed  to  shake  hands  with  any  of  his 
friends,  lest  they  might  communicate  to  him  poison  or  a 
knife. 

After  reaching  prison,  the  prisoner  is  practically  dead  to 
the  world,  except  that  his  friends  may  visit  him  monthly. 
Some  will  return  to  citizenship  again  as  honest  men ;  others 


262  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

will  never  pass  through  the  gate  till  they  are  carried  out  to 
a  bed  of  lime  in  the  little  cemetery  on  the  hill-side. 

During  the  transition  from  court  to  prison,  kaliedoscopic 
scenes  pass  through  the  brain  of  the  prisoner,  and  are  con- 
tinued indefinitely  in  his  little  3x7  cell,  where  he  spends 
his  first  sleepless  night. 

In  England  all  persons  sentenced  to  penal  servitude  for 
a  period  of  two  years  and  over,  are  sent  to  what  is  called 
the  Central  Prison  for  six  months  for  the  purpose  of  obser- 
vation. This  is  done  that  the  authorities  may  be  able  to 
put  the  prisoner  to  some  work  best  suited  to  his  nature. 
The  Central  Prison  is  the  Experimental  Station  of  the  Eng- 
lish system.  The  inmate's  physical,  mental  and  moral  na- 
ture are  carefully  inquired  into,  and  observations  made. 
This  reform  was  begun  about  a  third  of  a  century  ago,  and 
has  met  with  success. 

After  the  newly  arrived  prisoner  enters  the  Sing  Sing  or 
Bear  Mountain  Prison  reception  room,  he  is  interviewed  by 
an  official,  who  forthwith  takes  his  pedigree.  If  the  pris- 
oner happens  to  have  any  money  or  valuables,  he  is  relieved 
of  the  same,  and  a  receipt  given  him.  They  are  returned 
when  he  leaves  the  prison. 

As  soon  as  the  reception  is  over,  he  is  taken  by  a  keeper 
to  the  State  Shop.  This  is  the  storehouse  for  clothing. 
Here  he  receives  a  suit  of  clothes,  including  underwear, 
shoes,  stockings  and  cap.  The  next  place  is  the  bath  house, 
where  the  prisoner  has  the  privilege  of  staying  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes,  after  which  he  dons  his  prison  garments, 
and  is  sent  to  his  cell  for  the  night.  "Some  men  have  a 
natural  aversion  to  water,  and  refuse  to  take  a  bath  when 
they  come  here,"  said  the  principal  keeper  of  a  large 
State  institution,  as  he  showed  me  around  his  establish- 
ment. Being  anxious  to  know  what  they  did  in  such  a 
rase,  I  asked:  "What  then?"  "Oh,"  said  the  P.  K.,  with 
a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  "we  fix  'em  all  right."     I  said,  "How 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  263 

do  you  do  it?"  "Well,"  he  said,  pointing  to  a  corner  of 
the  large  stone  bath-house,  "We  set  'em  up  there,  and 
turn  the  hose  on  them.  The  fact  is,"  said  the  P.  K.,  "we 
give  the  kickers  a  good  soaking,  and  then  tear  the  clothes 
off  their  back,  and  they  never  rebel  against  a  bath  after- 
wards.   It  cures  'em,  sure." 

This  is  the  first  step  in  the  transformation  of  the  pris- 
oner. Next  day  he  is  taken  before  the  P.  K.,  who  carefully 
interviews  him,  to  know  just  what  particular  work  he  is  best 
fitted  for.  The  P.  K.  may  interview  him  daily  for  three 
weeks  or  even  a  month  before  sending  him  to  one  of  the 
shops.  If  his  health  is  not  good,  the  prison  doctor  may  be 
called  in,  and  if  suffering  from  some  contagious  disease,  he 
is  sent  to  the  hospital,  or  if  it  is  found  that  he  has  incipient 
or  chronic  tuberculosis,  he  is  sent  to  Napanoch,  in  the 
Ulster  Mountains,  or  Clinton  Prison,  in  the  Adirondacks. 

These  steps  in  the  reformation  of  the  criminal  are  little 
known  to  the  outside  world.  But  they  are  all  necessary 
and  important,  and  carefully  observed  by  our  State  prison 
authorities. 

Prison  Classification 

The  proper  classification  of  the  inmates  of  our  prisons  is 
a  most  important  part  of  their  treatment,  looking  to  their 
reformation.  This  is  something  that  has  been  sadly  ne- 
glected in  the  past  by  nearly  all  of  our  prisons  and  reform- 
atories. Elmira  Reformatory  is  the  exception,  as  it  comes 
the  nearest  to  the  proper  classification  of  prisoners  of  any 
institution  in  the  country.  It  is  nothing  less  than  a  crime 
to  allow  novices  to  associate  with  hardened  offenders,  either 
in  shops  or  yards,  where  they  can  freely  converse  together. 
Such  an  association  soon  changes  the  first  offender  into  a 
real  criminal  who  goes  forth  when  his  time  is  finished  with 
his  brain  all  aflame  to  commit  crime. 


264  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

A  Real  Prison  Reformer 

One  of  the  best  of  our  modern  prison  reformers  is  Mr. 
Cornelius  V.  Collins,  of  Troy,  N.  Y.  Since  1898  he  has 
been  Superintendent  of  State  Prisons,  and  has  given  excel- 
lent satisfaction,  not  only  to  many  of  our  leading  reformers, 
but  to  the  men  in  prison.  He  is  a  man  of  energy  and  abil- 
ity and  knows  how  a  prison  should  be  conducted,  and  is 
intensely  practical  in  everything  he  does.  Since  he  has  had 
charge  of  our  State  prisons,  he  has  inaugurated  many  val- 
uable reforms  which  have  been  a  blessing  to  the  inmates, 
which  easily  leaves  him  in  the  front  rank  of  prison  reform- 
ers. It  was  through  Mr.  Collins'  enterprising  efforts  and 
practical  foresight  that  the  Star  of  Hope  was  first  started 
soon  after  he  became  Superintendent  of  Prisons.  He  saw 
the  great  need  of  such  an  educational  helper,  as  well  as 
the  importance  of  utilizing  the  intellectual  strength  of  the 
men  and  women  behind  the  bars,  and  having  a  splendid 
printing  plant  then  lying  idle  at  Sing  Sing,  he  felt  the  suc- 
cess of  his  new  enterprise  was  assured. 

Since  then  many  of  the  other  prisons  outside  of  the 
State  have  monthly  publications,  but  none  of  them  can  be 
compared  to  the  Star  of  Hope  for  enterprise,  dash  and  in- 
tellectual vigor. 

Mr.  Collins  has  made  so  many  successful  reforms  in  the 
penal  institutions  of  this  State  since  he  became  Superin- 
tendent of  Prisons,  as  to  commend  him  favorably  every- 
where. Many  of  our  prison  wardens  and  reformatory  su- 
perintendents are  good  practical  men,  but  they  have  not 
been  able  to  carry  out  the  reforms  which  were  necessary 
even  in  their  own  institutions.  Mr.  Collins  having  had  the 
courage  of  his  convictions  and  the  support  of  the  State 
Prison  Commission  behind  him,  saw  to  it  that  his  own  re- 
forms were  strictly  carried  out. 

In  regard  to  the  Parole  Law,  if  Mr.  Collins  is  not  the 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  265 

author  of  it  in  its  entirety  he  certainly  suggested  most  of 
it,  and  worked  harder  for  its  passage  than  any  man  living, 
and  it  would  have  been  vastly  more  comprehensive,  if  it 
had  not  been  for  some  men  who  objected  to  it  being  applied 
to  first  offenders  charged  with  more  serious  offences.  If 
Mr.  Collins  had  done  nothing  but  champion  this  one  law 
he  would  have  deserved  the  lasting  gratitude  of  good  men 
everywhere. 

Before  we  can  rightly  understand  the  advances  in  prison 
reform  that  have  taken  place  the  past  hundred  years,  we 
ought  to  be  familiar  with  the  treatment  accorded  prisoners 
in  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era  and  for  hundreds 
of  years  afterwards.  The  prisons  we  read  of  in  the  ancient 
world  were  places  of  pestilential  horror.  They  were  dark, 
damp,  and  unsanitary  dungeons,  from  which  the  sunlight 
was  entirely  excluded,  where  the  chains  rusted  on  the  arms 
and  feet  of  the  prisoners,  and  where  they  were  frequently 
left  to  die  of  starvation. 

The  ancient  method  of  dealing  with  criminals  was  three- 
fold, namely,  death,  exile  and  physical  punishment  or  tor- 
ture. Some  of  these  methods  prevail  in  some  parts  of  Eu- 
rope to  the  present  time,.  But  the  Christian  ideal  of  prison 
management  is  several  steps  higher.  It  has  not  yet  reached 
it,  but  it  has  been  forcing  itself  upon  the  world  for  many 
years.  We  believe  a  prison  ought  to  be  a  place  where  the 
offender  against  human  law  is  to  be  reformed  or  Christian- 
ized, and  afterwards  restored  to  society  an  industrious  and 
useful  man. 

The  prevailing  idea  in  some  of  our  criminal  courts  is 
that  the  average  prisoner  is  not  only  a  dangerous  character, 
but  also  a  hopeless  moral  and  social  defective  and  must  be 
restrained  and  punished  permanently.  After  the  criminal 
has  been  sent  to  a  penal  institution,  the  authorities  there, 
as  a  rule,  seem  not  to  care  whether  he  is  reformed  or  not. 
Indeed,  the  prisons  of  to-day,  with  few  exceptions,  cannot 


266  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

reform  the  unfortunates  therein,  as  they  are  not  conducted 
on  Christian  principles  nor  by  Christian  men.  Our  legisla- 
tors have  not  yet  learned  that  the  only  positive  reclaiming 
force  in  the  world  for  criminals  is  the  religion  of  the  Lord 
Jesus.  Not  only  is  this  true,  but  many  of  the  persons  who 
manage  our  prisons  do  not  believe  in  religion  themselves 
and  certainly  have  little  faith  in  it  for  others. 

There  is  so  much  indefiniteness  of  idea  as  to  what  prison 
reform  is,  that  it  would  be  well  at  the  outset  to  say  what  we 
mean  by  it.  We  would  define  prison  reforni  not  only  as  the 
reformation  of  the  prisoner,  but  the  more  efficient  manage- 
ment of  our  prisons  by  men  of  fitness  and  experience  in  the 
interest  of  humanity  and  economy. 

Among  the  other  reforms  inaugurated  by  Mr.  Collins 
since  he  took  charge  of  our  prisons  of  this  State  was  the 
abolition  of  the  lock-step.  All  men  that  are  now  sent  to  our 
prisons  are  drilled  by  a  regular  military  instructor  and 
march  no  longer  to  the  mess  hall  or  the  shops  in  the  lock- 
step,  but  as  soldiers.  This  gives  them  a  manly  bearing  and 
helps  their  general  health. 

Some  of  Mr.  Collins'  other  reforms  consist  of  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  convict  striped  suit  for  first  offenders,  and  no 
longer  cutting  the  convict's  hair  short,  except  for  sanitary 
reasons.  Abolition  of  tin  plates  and  tin  cups  used  at  meals 
and  crockery  substituted.  The  numbering  of  each  one's 
laundry  and  permission  given  to  first  offenders  to  wear 
"honor  bars"  on  their  sleeves  for  good  conduct,  which  gives 
them  special  privileges.  Mr.  Collins  has  raised  the  moral 
tone  of  our  prisons  in  other  ways,  all  of  which  shows  him 
to  be  a  man  of  energy  and  of  a  practical  turn  of  mind. 

There  is  one  other  place  where  reform  can  be  carried  out 
to  good  effect.  In  nearly  all  of  our  State  prisons  and  peni- 
tentiaries there  are  suppressed  murmurings  over  the  prison 
food.  Coarse  food  that  is  not  eaten  is  dearer  in  the  end 
than  palatable  food  that  is  consumed  with  a  relish.    For  the 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  267 

purpose  of  having  good  discipline  in  our  large  prisons  I 
would  suggest  the  following:  Put  every  inmate  on  his 
good  behavior  and  give  the  men  a  chance  to  earn  three 
good  meals  a  day. 

If  they  are  well  behaved,  let  them  eat  at  the  Warden's 
table.  This  plan  is  no  longer  an  experiment,  for  it  has 
been  tried,  it  is  said,  in  some  of  our  Pacific  prisons,  and 
works  like  a  charm.  The  old  saying  that  the  best  way  to 
reach  a  man's  heart  is  by  his  stomach  has  been  found  true. 

Let  there  be  three  tables  in  each  prison. 

1.  The  first  table  is  for  men  against  whom  there  is  no 
mark  for  rudeness  or  breaking  the  rules  for  one  whole 
month  and  who  do  their  work  well.  The  board  is  first  class 
at  this  table  and  each  convict  is  entitled  to  a  napkin.  They 
are  allowed  to  converse  with  each  other  and  have  waiters. 
Call  it  the  Warden's  table. 

2.  The  second  table  contains  the  regular  prison  fare.  It 
is  for  those  who  rebel  against  doing  their  work  or  wilfully 
disregard  some  of  the  rules  of  the  institution.  The  table  is 
made  of  plain  pine  boards.  Here  they  eat  their  food  in  si- 
lence, without  table  cloth  or  napkin. 

3.  The  third  table  is  called  "Bread  and  Water."  For 
their  meals  three  times  a  day  they  receive  plenty  of  dry 
bread  and  an  unlimited  quantity  of  water.  When  they  are 
confined  to  their  cells  for  bad  conduct  the  bread  and  water 
is  brought  to  them. 

When  this  course  was  first  tried  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  it 
was  found  that  at  the  end  of  three  months,  one-half  of  the 
men  were  able  by  their  good  conduct  marks  to  secure  a 
seat  at  the  best  table.  At  the  end  of  six  months  two-thirds  of 
the  men  sat  at  the  first  table.  After  a  year's  experience  nine 
men  out  of  every  ten  were  able  to  keep  the  law  and  behave 
like  gentlemen,  so  as  to  sit  at  the  best  table.  This  change 
has  wrought  wonders  in  some  of  the  prisons  of  California. 

I  do  not  believe  the  criminal  is  the  victim  of  an  unavoid- 


268  NEW    YORK    TOMBS 

able  destiny,  or  that  there  is  any  inexorable  necessity  for 
his  continuing  the  life  which  makes  him  a  social  anarchist, 
or  that  he  is  beyond  the  reach  of  reform.  I  believe  if  you 
treat  him  kindly  his  better  nature  will  respond  to  it  and  he 
will  show  himself  a  man.  That  crime  is  a  moral  disease  that 
is  transmitted,  the  same  as  depravity,  I  believe  to  be  true.  I 
believe  further  that  early  training,  environments  and  cross- 
grained  individuality  will  account  for  nearly  all  of  our 
present  day  criminality. 

Some  one  has  said:  "The  soul  of  all  reformation  is  the 
reformation  of  the  soul."  If  such  were  the  aim  of  the 
prison  authorities,  the  prisoner's  transformation  would  only 
be  a  question  of  time.  But  this  is  not  the  case,  and  such  an 
object  is  far  from  their  mind.  Yet  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  only  thing  that  gives  permanency  to  character. 
At  the  present  moment  the  reformation  of  the  criminal 
and  his  return  to  freedom  again  as  a  man  among  men,  nev- 
er enters  the  mind  of  the  majority  of  our  prison  officials. 
All  they  care  for  is  simply  to  hold  their  charges  in  safety 
until  their  term  expires,  then  turn  them  loose  again  no  bet- 
ter than  they  were  before.  The  one  great  reason  for  this 
is  that  the  heads  of  departments  are  politicians  and  are 
given  office  simply  because  they  are  a  controlling  power  in 
their  ward  or  county.  They  well  know  when  they  take 
office  that  their  tenure  is  exceedingly  brief,  and  they  must 
make  hay  while  the  sun  shines,  by  disappointing  their  ene- 
mies and  rewarding  their  friends. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  269 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE  INFLICTION    OF   THE  DEATH  PENALTY   IN  THE 

TOMBS 

Friday  has  always  been  known  as  hanging  day  at  the 
Tombs.  It  was  the  day  set  apart  from  time  immemorial 
and  the  New  World  continued  it  in  deference  to  Old  World 
customs.  Friday  with  few  exceptions  had  been  adhered  to 
in  New  York  County  for  over  fifty  years,  and  the  spectacle 
brought  together  a  large  concourse  of  people,  largely  of  the 
noisy  class.  In  the  early  history  of  New  York  criminals 
were  executed  in  vacant  lots  north  of  Canal  Street  and  also 
on  Blackwells  Island. 

After  the  opening  of  the  Tombs  in  1838  it  was  ordered 
by  the  authorities  that  all  hangings  should  take  place  with- 
in the  prison  enclosure.  As  the  walls  of  the  prison  were 
from  ten  to  twelve  feet  high,  the  people  that  owned  proper- 
ty around  the  Tombs  took  advantage  of  the  occasion  and 
charged  from  one  to  five  dollars  for  seats  on  the  roof  of  the 
houses  for  people  who  cared  to  see  the  hangings. 

As  we  have  intimated,  the  city  on  such  occasions  present- 
ed a  holiday  appearance  and  brought  together  a  large 
number  of  people  from  the  surrounding  villages.  They 
remained  within  sight  of  the  building  from  early  morning 
till  they  saw  the  black  flag  hoisted,  which  announced  that 
the  victim  had  been  launched  into  eternity. 

But  the  whole  scene  was  such  a  gruesome  spectacle  that 
no  refined  person  cared  to  see  it,  and  a  large  number  of 
people  considered  it  a  godsend  when  the  hangman's  job 


270  NEW    YORK  TOMBS 

was  given  to  the  State  Electrician  and  the  work  transferred 
to  the  death  house  at  Sing  Sing. 

The  first  and  earliest  Tombs  homicide  that  attracted  much 
attention  and  excited  the  people  of  this  city,  was  that  of 
John  C.  Colt,  charged  with  the  murder  of  Samuel  Adams. 
Colt  was  a  professional  penman  and  teacher  of  bookkeep- 
ing; he  had  an  office  on  the  second  floor  of  a  building  on  the 
corner  of  Broadway  and  Chambers  Street.  Samuel  Adams, 
a  printer,  was  in  the  same  building.  Colt  had  written  a 
work  on  bookkeeping  and  Adams  had  printed  it. 

On  September  17th,  1841,  Adams  come  into  Colt's  office, 
where  the  two  men  had  a  heated  discussion  over  the  print- 
ing bill  which  Adams  was  trying  to  collect.  Several  hard 
words  passed  between  the  men,  such  as  liar,  cheat  and  so 
forth.  Then  Colt  up  with  a  hammer  which  lay  on  the  table 
and  rained  several  blows  on  Adams'  head.  There  was  a  brief 
struggle  after  which  the  printer  lay  on  the  floor  in  a  pool  of 
blood. 

In  the  next  room  a  man  named  Wheeler  was  busy  at 
work.  He  had  heard  the  loud  words  between  the  two  men 
and  the  struggle ;  he  was  curious  to  know  what  it  all  meant. 
In  a  few  minutes  he  went  to  Colt's  door  in  the  hall,  peeped 
through  the  key  hole,  and  was  startled  with  what  he  saw; 
he  returned  to  his  room,  but  said  nothing  to  any  one.  Af- 
ter a  few  days  Wheeler  reported  what  he  saw  to  the  author- 
ities and  became  an  important  witness  for  the  State.  Next 
day  Colt  put  Adams'  body  in  a  box  and  shipped  it  to  New 
Orleans. 

The  vessel  was  delayed  for  a  week  by  storms.  Before 
the  ship  reached  its  destination,  passengers  and  crew  were 
overcome  by  a  terrible  stench  that  came  from  the  hold  of 
the  vessel.  After  a  thorough  investigation,  Adams'  body 
was  found  in  a  box  among  the  freight.  The  authorities  were 
notified  and  the  box  traced  back  to  where  it  came  from.  As 
a  result  Colt  was  arrested  and  indicted  for  murder  in  the 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  271 

first  degree.  Colt,  after  he  had  been  in  the  Tombs  for  a 
few  weeks,  made  a  confession,  saying  the  crime  was  done 
in  self  defence.  The  trial  lasted  ten  days.  The  jury 
brought  in  a  verdict  of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  and  Colt 
was  sentenced  to  be  hanged  November  18th,  1842. 

On  the  day  of  his  execution,  when  the  Sheriff  went  to 
Colt's  cell  to  prepare  him  for  the  last  struggle,  he  was 
startled  to  find  him  dead.  Just  then  the  cry  of  fire  was 
raised,  which  caused  intense  excitement  among  the  offi- 
cials and  prisoners  in  their  cells. 

The  lurid  glare  which  came  from  the  burning  cupola  and 
which  cast  a  shadow  on  all  sides,  attracted  wide  attention 
and  a  great  crowd  of  people.  After  the  fire  was  extin- 
guished and  order  once  more  restored,  Colt  was  found  in 
his  cell  in  a  pool  of  blood.  Many  persons  in  the  city  be- 
lieved that  the  burning  of  the  cupola  was  a  well  designed 
scheme  to  save  Colt  from  the  gallows,  and  in  the  midst  of 
the  excitement  Colt  escaped  through  one  of  the  side  doors 
by  the  aid  of  powerful  friends  and  a  dead  body  from  one 
of  the  hospitals  was  substituted  in  his  place.  A  few  years 
ago  Charles  Wesley  Smith,  a  resident  of  New  York,  inform- 
ed the  writer  that  he  was  present  at  the  burning  of  the 
Tombs  cupola,  November  18th,  1842.  A  great  crowd  came 
to  witness  the  raising  of  the  black  flag  which  was  to  be 
the  final  act  in  the  hanging  of  Colt  and  which  announced 
to  those  on  the  outside  that  the  sentence  of  the  law  had 
been  carried  out,  but  it  failed  and  the  general  opinion  was 
that  Colt  escaped. 

Mr.  Smith  says  that  he  stood  in  front  of  a  blacksmith's 
shop,  opposite  the  prison,  in  Centre  Street,  with  many 
others,  when  he  saw  dense  smoke  coming  from  the  Tombs 
cupola.  In  a  few  minutes  there  was  great  excitement  in 
and  outside  of  the  building.  In  the  prison  yard  it  is  said 
pandemonium  reigned  supreme,  the  shrieks  and  yells  of  the 
prisoners  begging  to  be  taken  out  of  the  building  could 


272  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

be  heard  a  block  away.  Soon  after  the  firemen  reached 
the  prison  they  played  a  small  stream  of  water  on  the  fire, 
which  quickly  extinguished  the  flames,  and  it  was  all  over 
in  half  an  hour.  The  general  prevailing  opinion  among 
the  people  of  the  city  at  the  time  was  that  a  scheme  had 
been  carried  out  successfully  which  permitted  Colt  to  go 
scot  free.  And  that  the  cupola  fire,  which  was  a  put-up 
job,  aided  him  greatly  in  his  flight. 

During  all  of  these  years  the  regular  hangings  took 
place  in  the  Tombs  yard,  and  usually  occurred  between 
six  a.  m.  and  twelve  noon.  Hundreds  and  sometimes  thous- 
ands of  people  waited  on  the  street,  or  squatted  on  the 
roofs  of  buildings  to  see  the  sights,  which  were  accompan- 
ied by  drunkenness  and  disorderly  conduct.  On  the  site 
of  the  present  Criminal  Court  Building,  on  Centre  Street, 
was  the  Freight  House  of  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and 
Harrford  Railroad  Company,  on  the  roof  of  which  were  of- 
ten gathered  a  hundred  persons  waiting  to  see  the  black 
f.ag  rise  as  soon  as  one  was  executed. 

On  August  21st,  1888,  Dannie  Lyons  was  executed.  He 
had  been  a  member  of  the  "Whyo  Gang,"  who  hung  out 
around  Leonard  and  Centre  Streets.  They  had  put  up  a 
strong  fight  to  save  their  comrade,  Dannie,  but  it  failed. 
The  gang  numbered  about  thirty  or  forty  persons  and  was 
made  up  of  some  of  the  worst  desperadoes  in 
the  city.  And  when  all  their  efforts  failed  they 
had  threatened  to  make  trouble  in  the  "Bloody 
Sixth  Ward."  On  the  night  of  August  20th,  they 
spent  the  time  in  a  low  dive  on  Mulberry  Street 
near  the  Bend.  They  were  in  front  of  the  Tombs 
early  on  the  morning  of  August  21st.  Most  of  them  had 
booze  and  were  in  a  sullen  frame  of  mind  and  were  ready 
for  trouble.  The  presence  of  the  Elizabeth  Street  Police 
overawed  them  and  everything  passed  off  quietly.  Dannie 
Lyons'  father  was  at  the  prison  and  appealed  to  the  Warden 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  273 

for  the  privilege  of  seeing  his  son  executed,  but  his  appeal 
was  denied. 

On  August  23rd,  1889,  four  men  paid  the  death  penalty, 
the  largest  number  ever  hanged  on  one  occasion.  They 
were  executed  one  after  the  other  in  rapid  succession. 
Their  names  were  Ferdinand  Caroline,  Patrick  Packing- 
ham,  James  Nolan  and  Jack  Lewis.  Hangman  Atkinson 
was  on  hand,  and  it  is  said  performed  his  duties  with  neat- 
ness and  dispatch! 

These  Tombs  hangings  furnished  a  favorite  pastime  for 
the  rougher  element  of  the  lower  East  Side,  including  Mul- 
berry Bend  and  Chinatown.  "How  did  the  bloke  take  it?" 
was  a  common  expression  from  one  who  had  not  the  pleas- 
ure of  being  a  spectator.  The  reply  usually  given  was,  "It 
was  tame,"  or  "He  was  game,"  or  "I  could  do  much  better 
myself." 

The  execution  of  these  men  was  the  talk  of  the  city  for 
weeks  beforehand.  And  although  desperate  efforts  were 
made  to  save  them,  they  failed,  as  the  Governor  refused 
to  interfere  with  the  sentence  of  the  law. 

The  four  men  after  being  taken  from  their  cells  on  "Mur- 
derer's Row,"  were  lined  up  in  the  Prison  yard  beside  their 
spiritual  advisers.  The  first  toward  the  gallows  was  Ferd. 
Caroline.  As  he  was  pinioned  by  the  sheriff's  men  one 
could  hear  from  the  adjacent  building  crumbs  of  comfort 
for  poor  Ferd,  who  was  rather  sad  that  morning.  As  he 
stood  on  the  scaffold  some  one  cried,  "Brace  up  Ferd,  be  a 
man."  After  him  came  Patrick  Packingham,  who  was  of 
a  rather  melancholy  disposition  and  who  had  to  be  helped 
on  the  scaffold.  "Paddy,"  said  one  of  his  companions, 
"Cheer  up,  we're  coming  after  you."  Then  came  "Jimmie" 
Nolan  and  Jack  Lewis,  jollying  each  other  in  the  course  of 
their  preparation  for  death. 

The  last  man  who  had  the  "honor"  of  being  hanged  in 
the  yard  of  the  Tombs  Prison  was  Harry  Carlton,  better 


274  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

known  as  "Handsome  Harry,"  which  took  place  December 
5th,  1889.  Carlton  was  said  to  be  a  daring  criminal,  and 
had  an  exceedingly  unsavory  and  nervy  record  for  fifteen 
years  previous  to  his  death.  He  was  convicted  of  the  mur- 
der of  Policeman  James  Brennan,  whom  he  shot  on  the 
night  of  October  26th,  1888,  in  Fifty-ninth  Street  near 
Second  Avenue.  On  the  morning  of  his  execution,  when 
they  awoke  him  out  of  a  sound  sleep,  he  asked  the  time 
of  day.  When  they  informed  him  it  was  five  o'clock,  he 
replied,  "Great  Scott,  my  time  is  getting  short." 

Carlton's  father  came  to  the  Tombs  that  morning  and 
begged  Warden  Osborne  to  permit  him  to  see  his  son  pay 
the  penalty  of  the  law,  but  the  Warden  denied  his  request. 
Shortly  after  seven,  Carlton  heard  the  Death  Warrant  read. 
Soon  after  he  was  led  to  the  scaffold,  where  Hangman  At- 
kinson adjusted  the  rope  and  put  the  black  cape  over  his 
face,  and  at  seven  twenty-nine  a.  m.  the  drop  fell  and  he 
was  launched  into  eternity.  In  five  minutes  afterwards  his 
lifeless  body  dangled  on  the  scaffold.  At  nine-thirty  a 
hearse  drove  into  the  yard  and  his  body  was  put  in  a  casket 
and  taken  to  the  cemetery,  followed  by  another  carriage, 
in  which  were  Carlton's  wife  and  child. 

Up  till  last  hanging  in  1889,  murder,  riot  and  rowdy- 
ism were  never  more  common,  showing  clearly  that  the 
Tombs'  execution  had  no  deterrent  effect  whatever  on  the 
criminal  classes  of  the  city,  but  the  opposite.  Murder  went 
on  just  the  same.  From  the  time  when  Colt  killed  Adams 
in  August,  1841,  till  the  present,  the  Tombs  has  not  been 
without  a  score  of  homicidal  inmates  and  many  of  them  of 
good  standing  in  the  comunity.  Carlyle  Harris,  Dr.  Bu- 
chanan, Dr.  Kennedy,  Dr.  Meyer,  Albert  T.  Patrick,  Harry 
K.  Thaw  and  many  others  came  from  good  families. 

The  following  list  of  criminals  executed  from    1838  to 
1889  is  taken  from  the  official  records  of  the  Tombs: 
Patrick  Russell   December  8th,  1841 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  275 

James  Eger May  9th,  1845 

Charles  Thomas November  20th,  1846 

Matthew  Wood June  2nd,  1849 

Benson  &  Douglass July  25th,  1851 

Aaron  Stokey   September  19th,  1851 

Otto  Grunsig February  27th,  1852 

Patrick   Fitzgerald    April    19th,  1853 

William  Saul   January  28th,  1853 

Nicholas  Howlett January  28th,  1853 

Joseph  Clark February   1 1th,  1853 

James  L.  Hoarr January  27th,  1854 

John  Dorsey July  17th,  1857 

James   Rodgers    November    12th,  1858 

James  Stevens February  Gth,  1860 

John  Crimmens March  30th,  1860 

Albert  Hicks,  alias  Johnson July  30th,  1860 

»athan  Gordon February  21st,  1862 

Wiiham  Hawkins   June  27th,  1862 

Bernard  Friery August  17th,  1866 

Frank  Ferris   October   19th,  1866 

George  Wagner March  1st,  1867 

Jerry  O'Brien   August  2nd,  1867 

John  Reynolds April  8th,  1870 

John  Real August  5th,  1870 

John  Thomas March  10th,  1871 

William  Foster March  21st,  1873 

Michael  Nixon  May  16th,  1873 

William  Thompson December  17th,  1875 

William  Ellis December  17th,  1875 

Charles  Weston  December  17th,  1875 

John  R.  Dolan April  21st,  1876 

Chastian  Cox July  16th,  1880 

Pietro  Balbo August  6th,  1880 

William  Sindrain   April  21st,  1882 

August  D.  Leighton   May  19th,  1882 

Michael  McGloin  March  9th,  1883 


276  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

Pasquale  Majone March  9th,  18S3 

Edward  Hovey October  19th,  1833 

Miguiel  Chacon   July  9th,   1886 

Peter  Smith   May  5th,  1887 

Daniel  Driscoll January  23rd,  1888 

Daniel  Lyons August  21st,  1888 

Ferdinand  Caroline August  23rd,  1839 

Patrick  Packingham   August  23rd,    1839 

James  Nolan August  23rd,  1839 

Jack  Lewis  August  23rd,   1889 

Harry  Carlton December  5th,  1389 


The  front  entrance  to  Sing  Sing  Prison. 


The  Protestant  chapel.  Sing  Sing  prison.  The  electric  chair  in  Sing  Sing  prison. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  277 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

A  VISIT  TO  THE  DEATH  HOUSE  AT  SING  SING 

One  of  the  never-to-be-forgotten  visits  of  my  life  was 
the  one  I  paid  to  the  Death  Chamber  at  Sing  Sing  on  Oc- 
tober 11th,  1900. 

The  visit  in  question  was  at  the  request  of  an  inmate  in 
whom  I  was  deeply  interested,  and  who  was  finally  award- 
ed a  new  trial  by  the  Court  of  Appeals. 

The  edifice  known  as  the  Death  House  is  built  of  solid 
stone  and  is  oblong  in  shape.  Its  dimensions  are  66x30.  It 
has  no  windows  on  the  sides.  The  only  place  the  light 
comes  in  is  through  the  skylight.  At  night  the  electric 
glare  fills  every  part  of  it.  The  door  is  approached  through 
a  long  corridor,  which  is  locked  at  night  so  as  to  make  the 
place  doubly  safe.  When  the  Death  House  was  first  built, 
it  contained  eight  cells  of  solid  stone  and  steel.  Since 
then  two  more  have  been  added,  making  ten  cells  alto- 
gether. 

Armed  with  an  order  from  a  Supreme  Court  Judge,  which 
I  presented  to  Warden  Johnson,  I  was  led  along  corridors 
2nd  passageways  till  I  came  to  the  office  of  the  principal 
keeper,  who  then  took  me  in  charge.  After  a  brief  delay 
we  came  to  the  inner  door  which  is  made  of  steel.  A  dull 
heavy  thud  from  my  guide,  the  principal  keeper,  brought 
the  inside  guard  to  the  bull's  eye.  He  then  saw  who  were 
at  the  entrance  without  opening  the  door.  In  a  few  seconds 
I  was  inside  the  death  chamber  and  the  steel  door  was  clos- 
ed on  me.  I  was  then  in  a  place  the  law  calls  a  living 
tomb.    It  was  as  still  as  the  grave.    Not  a  word  was  spoken 


278  NEW    YORK    TOMBS 

in  the  room  above  a  whisper.  As  the  shoes  worn  by  the 
condemned  men  and  keepers  are  made  of  felt,  no  sound 
came  from  their  movements.  These  felt  shoes  are  cailed 
"sneakers."  The  law  says  that  all  persons  sent  to  the 
electric  chair  must  be  kept  in  solitary  confinement  and  in 
silence  till  the  sentence  of  the  Court  is  carried  out. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  that  the  mode  of  changing  the 
death  penalty  from  hanging  to  electricity  went  into  effect 
in  the  three  State  prisons  of  New  York  in  January,  1390. 
The  electric  chair  was  set  up  in  Sing  Sing  in  the  latter  part 
of  1889,  so  as  to  be  all  ready  the  following  year.  On  ac- 
count of  the  uncertainty  of  the  law,  no  electrocution  took 
place  in  this  prison  until  July  7th,  1891;  then  four  men 
were  electrocuted  on  the  same  day,  one  after  the  other. 
The  names  of  these  men  are  as  follows:  James  J.  Slocum, 
Harris  A.  Smiler,  Joseph  Wood  and  Schihiok  Jugigo. 

Nearly  two  years  after  the  first  electrocution,  when  the 
death  house  had  five  inmates  awaiting  the  death  sentence, 
Osmond,  George  Megan,  Carlyle  Harris,  Thomas  Pallister 
and  Frederick  W.  Roche,  the  two  latter  prisoners  made 
good  their  escape  from  the  death  chambers  on  the  night 
of  April  20th,  1893,  and  have  never  been  seen  or  heard  of 
since.  These  escapes  caused  a  great  sensation  at  the  time, 
as  they  were  the  most  daring  that  ever  took  place,  and  they 
seemed  to  be  so  well  planned  and  successfully  carried  out 
that  the  general  belief  was  that  a  dozen  of  people  must 
have  had  a  hand  in  it. 

The  manner  of  their  escape  from  the  doomed  quarters 
was  as  follows:  It  had  always  been  customary  since  the 
death  house  was  first  opened  for  the  inmates  to  have  food 
warmed  at  night  on  one  of  the  stoves.  Nor  was  it  un- 
common for  the  keeper  in  charge  to  let  the  prisoners  come 
out  of  their  cell  and  brew  tea  or  coffee  at  midnight 
on  a  stove  which  stood  in  the  centre  of  the  room. 
On  the  night  in  question,  Frederick  W.  Roche,  one  of  the 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  279 

condemned  men,  requested  Keeper  Hulse  to  permit  him 
to  leave  his  cell  so  that  he  might  warm  some  tea,  as  he  had 
eaten  no  supper.  The  keeper  readily  acceded  to  his  request 
as  he  had  done  so  many  times  before,  not  thinking  that 
anything  was  wrong.  Just  then  Roche  threw  a  handful  of 
pepper  into  the  keeper's  eyes,  which  almost  blinded  him. 
Then  Roche  took  away  the  keeper's  pistol  and  keys,  and 
locked  him  in  the  cell  which  he  had  just  vacated  and  threat- 
ened to  kill  him  if  he  made  the  slightest  disturbance. 

After  he  had  opened  Pallister's  cell,  he  invited  the  other 
prisoners  in  the  chamber  to  accompany  him,  but  they  all 
declined.  When  he  requested  Carlyle  W.  Harris  to  come 
with  him,  he  politely  refused,  saying  that  as  he  was  inno- 
cent, he  preferred  to  wait  till  the  Courts  gave  him  a  vindi- 
cation. But  the  vindication  never  came,  as  Harris  was  af- 
terwards electrocuted,  the  highest  Court  having  denied  his 
appeal.  Pallister  and  Roche  left  the  death  house  by  way  of 
the  skylight  window,  then  dropped  into  the  yard,  a  distance 
of  fifteen  feet.  Strange  to  say,  the  yard  keeper  could  not 
be  found — where  was  he?  And  stealing  a  boat,  which  was 
afterwards  found,  they  made  for  the  river  and  disappeared. 
This  looks  like  a  put  up  job! 

Strange  to  say,  these  jail  breakers  were  gone  nine  hours 
before  the  authorities  knew  what  had  taken  place.  As  soon 
as  Warden  Brown  took  in  the  situation,  he  dispatched 
searching  parties  on  both  sides  of  the  river,  but  without 
the  least  success.  He  also  suspended  Keepers  Hulse  and 
Murphy,  and  Yard  Watchman  Maher,  and  then  started  a 
searching  investigation  to  find  out  how  it  was  possible  for 
these  criminals  to  get  away  as  they  did.  After  the  investi- 
gation, the  Warden  exonerated  the  keepers  and  restored 
them  to  their  positions. 

Where  they  went  to  after  leaving  the  prison,  no  one  has 
ever  been  able  to  learn.  A  common  opinion  is  that  they 
may  have  been  drowned  in  the  river,  as  two  bodies  were 


280  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

afterwards  found,  but  this  is  not  sure.  Most  people  seem 
to  think  that  a  schooner  was  awaiting  them  in  the  middle 
of  the  river  and  took  them  to  South  America,  and  the  graft 
in  the  job  amounted  to  $5,000. 

On  the  day  of  our  visit  to  Sing  Sing  there  were  nine  men 
in  this  doomed  building,  all  under  sentence  of  death.  A 
week  before  the  Court  of  Appeals  had  decided  that  one  of 
the  inmates,  a  Greek,  should  have  a  new  trial,  which  left 
a  vacancy.  The  persons  then  present  in  the  death  chamber 
were  all  well  known  to  me  except  the  two  men  from  Brook- 
lyn, who  were  Italians. 

The  whole  scene  presented  to  my  mind  a  grewsome  spec- 
tacle. I  was  then  in  the  place  for  the  first  time,  which  Mr. 
Roland  B.  Molineux  describes  in  his  book  as  "The  Room 
with  the  Little  Door." 

The  eight  original  cells  are  ranged  in  a  row  side  by  side 
against  the  south  wall.  The  thick  horizontal  steel  bars 
make  you  think  of  a  cage  of  wild  beasts.  In  front  of  each 
cell, — perhaps  a  foot  from  the  steel  bars,  there  is  a  closely 
woven  steel  wire  netting  which  prevents  a  visitor  from  pass- 
ing anything  to  the  condemned  man,  or  even  shaking  hands 
with  him.  All  conversations  must  be  carried  on  in  whispers. 
A  few  doors  away  there  is  a  little  room  which  contains  the 
death  chair.  All  around  it  there  are  straps,  belts  and 
wires,  which  are  used  for  fastening  around  the  body  and 
legs  of  the  condemned  man  when  the  sentence  of  law  is 
about  to  be  carried  into  effect.  As  you  again  look  over 
the  audience  in  the  death  chamber,  unconsciously  your 
blood  chills  and  the  cold  sweat  drops  in  beads  from  your 
brow.  It  is  a  dreadful  place.  Human  beings  waiting  for 
the  slaughter! 

Here  are  the  names  of  the  inmates  I  saw  that  day:  Ro- 
land Burham  Molineux,  Dr.  Kennedy,  Eddie  Wise,  Jim 
Mullen,  Fritz  Meyer,  William  Newfeldt  and  Druggist  Priora. 

The  two  condemned  men   from  Brooklyn,  Ferraro  and 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  281 

Zigwers,  I  did  not  know  and  had  no  particular  interest  in 
them  except  one  of  pity. 

I  came  that  day  to  see  Mr.  Molineux,  whom  I  had  known 
in  the  Tombs  as  a  courteous  gentleman  and  one  that  every- 
body liked.  It  seems  almost  unnecessary  to  say  that  he 
received  me  with  his  usual  blandness.  As  I  came  up  to  the 
steel  woven  screen  he  smiled  at  me.  I  remember  he  look- 
ed pale  and  worried!  And  his  eyes  were  dull  and  heavy. 
I  tried  to  give  him  a  little  comfort  as  best  I  could  under  the 
circumstances. 

I  knew  that  in  time  Mr.  Molineux  would  secure  another 
trial  and  it  came,  thank  God,  and  I  was  one  of  the  first  to 
congratulate  him  after  the  jury  had  filed  into  Court  and 
said,  "Not  guilty." 

While  I  was  speaking  to  Roland,  Dr.  Kennedy  was  hav- 
ing a  visit  from  his  wife.  I  saw  her  on  the  train  coming  up 
but  I  reached  the  prison  some  time  before  her  as  I  came 
by  way  of  the  railroad  track. 

I  had  only  a  few  words  with  Dr.  Kennedy.  I  could  see 
that  he  was  in  a  state  of  great  nervous  excitement  border- 
ing on  collapse,  and  no  wonder,  for  his  case  was  that  day 
before  the  Court  of  Appeals.  It  was  in  the  balance.  The 
judges  were  then  considering  the  circumference  of  the 
lead  pipe  which  was  the  one  thing  in  his  case  that  led  to  a 
new  trial.  A  sixteenth  part  of  an  inch  decided  his  fate!  I 
looked  at  Kennedy  again  and  again;  he  was  a  study!  His 
eyes  were  like  balls  of  fire,  his  hair  stood  upright,  his 
hands  held  on  to  the  steel  bars  of  his  cage  and  braced  him 
while  he  spoke  to  his  wife.  The  strain  was  telling  on  him! 
His  face  was  pallid  and  he  looked  as  if  he  had  not  slept  in 
a  month.  Not  only  did  he  look  dejected  and  worried  on 
account  of  the  ordeal  through  which  he  was  then  passing, 
but  he  looked  like  a  man  almost  beside  himself.  The 
Court  of  Appeals  gave  him  a  chance  for  his  life,  and  after 


282  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

three  trials  failed  to  convict  him,  he  was  liberated.    Since 
then  the  old  indictment  against  him  has  been  quashed. 

There  was  another  young  man  in  the  death  house  that 
morning.  He  was  a  New  Englander — only  a  few  feet  away! 
It  was  Eddie  Wise — an  intelligent,  wide-awake  and  bright 
young  man.  For  several  years  he  had  led  a  wild  life  as 
the  companion  of  criminals.  What  brought  him  here?  Un- 
der the  influence  of  cursed  rum  he  took  part  in  a  "highway" 
in  which  the  victim  was  killed  in  defending  his  watch  and 
money.  The  other  two  "crooks"  got  away,  and  have  never 
been  found.  This  young  man  who  simply  looked  on  was 
held  as  a  principal  and  convicted  of  murder  in  the  first  de- 
gree. 

There  is  another  man  present  who  killed  a  companion  at 
a  game  of  cards  on  a  Sunday  afternoon.  They  had  all  been 
drinking;  after  a  quarrel  he  went  for  a  gun  and  shot  his 
friend  to  death.  He  has  a  wife  and  five  small  children. 
Poor  Priora! 

The  others  in  the  cells  are  Jim  Mullen,  an  ex-English 
soldier,  Newfeldt,  the  Jew,  and  Fritz  Meyer — all  of  them 
passed  through  the  little  iron  door  and  paid  the  penalty  of 
the  law  for  their  crime! 

Some  of  the  inmates  call  the  death  house  a  "Modern 
Inferno,"  but  I  could  not  read  Dante's  inscription,  written 
over  the  portals,  "None  return  that  enter  here."  Indeed, 
some  who  had  spent  from  one  to  two  years  in  those  cham- 
bers of  death  have  afterwards  gone  forth  to  liberty,  and 
are  now  living  in  freedom.  I  have  often  thought  that  the 
awful  monotony,  the  solitary  silence,  the  deprivations  of 
papers,  letters  and  friends  were  enough  to  drive  men  in 
such  a  place  crazy.  But  when  one  of  the  inmates  came 
back  to  the  Tombs  to  stand  a  new  trial,  I  asked  him  regard- 
ing these  things,  and  he  informed  me  that  they  can  only 
stand  that  awful  silence  and  suspense  a  few  days,  when 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  233 

they  break  out  and  for  hours  make  the  place  hideous  with 
their  yells. 

An  Italian  named  Raeffello  Casonea  returned  to  New 
York  for  another  trial  in  July,  1906,  after  having  spent 
thirty-one  months  and  twenty-three  days  in  the  death 
house.  During  this  time  he  saw  twelve  men  go  into  the 
"Room  with  the  Little  Door,"  who  never  returned  again. 
Casconea  occupied  cell  No.  1,  and  as  the  men  passed  into 
the  death  chamber  he  was  permitted  to  shake  them  by  the 
hand  and  wish  them  good  cheer.  At  the  second  trial  in  this 
city,  Casconea  was  liberated  and  since  has  kept  a  coffee 
house  on  Mulberry  street.  On  August  10th,  1909,  he  was 
shot  by  the  seventeen  year  old  brother  of  the  man  that  he 
was  alleged  to  have  killed.    Casconea  has  since  died. 

The  whole  number  of  persons  electrocuted  in  Sing  Sing 
from  January  1st,  1890,  till  July  1st,  1909,  according  to 
the  prison  records,  was  between  fifty  and  sixty. 


284  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER   XXXVI. 

A  TRAMP  COLONY 

Every  year  our  City  Magistrates  send  to  the  Workhouse 
on  Blackwell's  Island  no  less  than  twenty  thousand  persons. 
This  is  entirely  independent  of  the  number  sent  from  Kings 
County  by  the  Magistrates  of  Brooklyn,  Richmond  and 
Queens. 

By  far  the  largest  number  of  this  contingent  are  the  res- 
iduum of  dregs  of  society.  As  soon  as  they  have  their 
liberty  they  prey  upon  society.  And  when  they  are  in  the 
toils  again  the  ubiquitous  gin-mill  will  account  for  it.  But 
there  are  other  reasons,  and  some  of  the  responsibility  will 
have  to  be  laid  at  the  door  of  our  present  social  conditions, 
which  need  considerable  re-adjusting. 

It  is  needless  to  conceal  the  fact  that  a  large  percentage 
of  this  class  is  made  up  of  thieves,  drunkards,  incorrigibles 
and  homeless  tramps.  As  they  cannot  find  employment 
readily,  they  eke  out  a  precarious  living  for  a  time  as  pan- 
handlers and  deadbeats  and  then  return  to  prison,  only  to 
continue  the  same  experience  several  times  a  year.  As 
their  imprisonment  does  them  no  good  and  as  they  are  a 
great  expense  to  the  city  and  county,  it  becomes  a  serious 
problem  what  shall  be  done  with  them.  At  the  present  time 
the  cost  of  crime  in  Greater  New  York  is  no  less  than  twen- 
ty-five per  cent,  of  the  entire  taxation. 

We  must  therefore  consider  this  subject  intelligently 
with  a  view  to  its  solution.  But  whether  these  social  con- 
ditions can  be  explained  fully  to  one's  satisfaction  matters 
very  little.     We  question   the   right  of  the  authorities  to 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  285 

maintain  any  longer  this  army  of  idlers  without  making 
them  work  to  pay  the  cost  of  their  own  living. 

For  some  years  past  we  have  observed  that  hundreds — 
possibly  thousands  of  unskilled  laborers,  many  of  whom  are 
in  the  building  trades,  reach  the  dead-line  about  forty  years 
of  age.  If  they  have  lived  intemperate  lives  and  happen 
to  be  single  or  widowers,  when  winter  sets  in  and  they 
find  themselves  out  of  employment  the  only  thing  they  can 
do  is  to  apply  to  the  Magistrate  and  ask  to  be  committed 
to  the  workhouse  as  vagrants  for  three  or  six  months.  And 
many  of  them,  after  they  have  finished  their  time  and  se- 
cured their  liberty  are  no  better  off,  and  painfully  return  to 
the  Police  Court  for  the  twentieth  time  perhaps,  to  be  the 
city's  ward  in  the  workhouse.  What  else  can  they  do,  or 
die  on  the  street  from  sheer  starvation? 

This  raises  the  question,  what  shall  be  done  with  our  ar- 
my of  "tramp  rounders"  and  incorrigibles?  To  continue  to 
send  them  back  to  prison  or  workhouse  for  a  few  months 
is  simply  to  prolong  the  evil  and  their  own  misery.  Crimi- 
nals are  jailed  and  released  in  this  county  every  year  by 
the  thousand,  only  to  oscillate  between  prison  and  a  brief 
season  of  liberty.  When  they  leave  the  place  of  their 
confinement  they  seldom  bid  their  keepers  good-bye,  only 
"au  revoir."  When  they  come  among  their  fellow  men 
again  they  are  not  better.  They  have  spent  months  or  years 
in  prison  in  idleness,  and  surrounded  by  vile  companions, 
and  they  are  no  better.  But  why  should  they  be  allowed  to 
endanger  the  life  and  liberty  of  society  any  longer  after 
the  experiences  of  the  past?  How  long  we  can  maintain 
such  a  system  it  is  difficult  to  say.  At  any  rate,  the  cost  of 
maintaining  our  prisons  is  becoming  enormous  and  the 
problem  of  what  shall  be  done  with  "rounders"  and  harden- 
ed criminals,  that  prey  upon  society  as  soon  as  they  get  out 
of  prison  should  be  solved  from  a  business  and  moral  stand- 
point. 


286  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

We  believe  the  time  has  come  for  this  whole  matter  to 
be  thoroughly  sifted  and  a  remedy  found  that  will  be  com- 
mensurate with  the  present  needs.  The  aim  should  be  the 
moral  reformation  of  the  criminal;  nor  do  we  think  any 
remedy  will  be  adequate  that  falls  short  of  this  object.  But 
in  working  for  this  end  we  must  not  exalt  criminals  into  ob- 
jects of  popular  pity. 

A  few  years  ago  a  committee  of  the  National  Prison  As- 
sociation examined  this  whole  subject  and  reported  that 
every  habitual  criminal  at  large  cost  the  State  by  robbery 
and  spoilation  no  less  than  sixteen  hundred  dollars  an- 
nually, and  if  in  this  State  alone  the  taxpayers  could  be 
relieved  of  this  burden  it  would  be  a  saving  of  six  mil- 
lion dollars  a  year. 

Unfortunately  New  York  and  vicinity  have  a  large  army 
of  unemployed  at  all  seasons  of  the  year — even  when  we 
are  blessed  with  what  is  called  "good  times."  This  is  es- 
pecially true  of  multitudes  who  are  employed  in  the  build- 
ing trades.  As  a  rule,  contractors  who  are  excavating  and 
blasting  for  new  buildings  can  always  find  twenty  times  as 
many  laborers  as  they  usually  need. 

But  the  wealth  of  the  country  is  so  great  and  the  oppor- 
tunities for  employment  so  vast  that  the  hustler  can  always 
find  employment  in  some  part  of  the  country.  Often  larg*. 
numbers  of  men  and  women  are  unable  to  find  employment 
at  any  occupation,  even  when  we  have  prosperous  times. 
Nor  are  they  to  blame  entirely  for  this.  Many  large  corpor- 
ations, such  as  railroads,  will  only  give  employment  to  the 
young  and  vigorous  who  are  able  to  produce  the  largest 
amount  of  work,  which  means  that  the  weak  and  infirm  are 
soon  driven  to  the  wall,  and  at  the  first  opportunity  dropped 
from  the  pay  roll  and  after  a  certain  age  are  unable  to  find 
employment  at  anything. 

At  an  expenditure  of  say  $100,000,  several  cheap  plants 
could  be  erected  on  Riker's  Island,  on  Long  Island  Sound, 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  287 

where  domestic  articles  could  be  monufaccurei  at  merely 
the  cost  of  the  raw  material,  2nd  this  army  of  tramps  that 
infest  the  boroughs  of  Greater  New  York  summer  and  win- 
ter could  be  made  to  pay  the  cost  of  their  own  living  ex- 
penses. For  example,  ten  or  a  dozen  small  shops  could 
be  erected  that  would  give  employment  to  2,0CG  men  .ind 
women  who  would  produce  things  that  would  in  n^  wise 
compete  with  the  great  labor  industries  of  the  country. 

The  following  are  some  of  the  industries  that  could  be 
carried  on  by  the  wards  of  the  city  of  New  York: 

Broom  making, 

Brush  making, 

Chair  caning, 

Laundry  work, 

Shoe  making, 

Tailoring, 

And  in  summer  Agriculture  and  Horticulture. 
The  city  could  rent  a  thousand  acres  of  land  in  West- 
chester County  on  which  garden  produce  could  be  raised 
and  sold  to  the  poor  at  low  figures,  which  would  give  em- 
ployment to  from  500  to  1,000  persons.  From  the  middle 
of  April  till  the  middle  of  October  they  could  live  in  tents, 
which  in  many  cases  would  greatly  improve  their  health. 

The  cultivation  of  the  soil  under  proper  restrictions  is  a 
most  healthful  labor  and  cannot  fail  to  show  good  results  if 
properly  carried  out.  French  penologists  and  reformers 
speak  of  the  system  in  the  highest  terms  and  recommend 
its  adoption  all  over  the  world.  If  necessary  these  convicts 
could  be  used  in  works  of  irrigation  or  canals  for  the  Fed- 
eral Government,  or  indeed,  the  carrying  on  of  public  work-- 
in any  part  of  the  country. 

M.  Demetz,  a  French  philosopher  and  foumler  of  the 
Mettray  Reformatory  in  France,  has,  for  many  years,  advo- 
cated the  cultivation  of  large  tracts  of  land  by  criminals. 
His  motto  has  been,  "Reclaim  the  land  by  the  man,  and  the 
man  by  the  land."    Since  1850  France  has  had  agricultural 


288  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

colonies  for  young  offenders  in  crime,  where  they  are  com- 
pelled to  stay  from  six  months  to  two  years.  They  cultivate 
the  soil  on  a  paying  basis,  and  the  success  and  management 
of  the  farm  colonies  has  been  eminently  successful,  as  only 
seven  per  cent,  of  their  numbers  return  again  to  crime. 

French  economists  think  that  money  has  never  been  more 
wisely  spent  than  for  such  institutions,  as  the  returns  show 
that  ninety-three  per  cent,  of  the  inmates  after  their  libera- 
tion become  useful  members  of  society. 

It  seems  to  us  that  no  country  in  the  world  would  carry 
out  penal  colonization  schemes  with  greater  advantage  and 
better  results  than  the  United  States. 

The  peaceful  conquest  of  large  tracts  of  lanJs  in  this 
State,  means  the  acquisition  of  more  domain  within  our 
own  borders,  in  which  there  may  be  homes  and  farmi  for 
hundreds  of  our  surplus  population. 

There  are  several  thousand  criminal  and  vagrant  idlers 
who  at  the  beginning  of  winter  go  before  Justices  of  the 
Peace  in  the  country  towns  and  are  committed  to  the  c  >un- 
ty  jails  for  several  months,  where  they  live  in  idleness  on 
the  fat  of  the  land.  Such  people  ought  to  be  in  some  colony 
and  kept  there  till  cured  of  their  delusions. 

Section  690  of  the  Penal  Code  lays  down  the  statute 
very  clearly  on  this  subject:  "Where  a  person  is  hereafter 
convicted  of  a  felony,  who  has  been  before  that  convict'on, 
convicted  in  this  State,  of  any  other  crime,  or  where  a  per- 
son is  hereafter  convicted  of  a  misdemeanor,  who  has  been 
already  five  times  convicted  in  this  State  of  a  misdemeanor, 
he  may  be  adjudged  by  the  Court,  in  addition  to  any  other 
punishment  that  may  be  inflicted  upon  him,  to  be  an  habit- 
ual criminal." 

Section  691  says,  "The  person  of  an  habitual  criminal 
shall  be  at  all  times  subject  to  the  supervision  of  every  ju 
dicial  magistrate  of  the  county,  and  of  the  Supervisors  and 
Overseers  of  the  Poor  of  the  town  where  the  criminal  mav 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  289 

be  found,  to  the  same  extent  that  a  minor  is  subject  to  the 
control  of  his  parent  or  guardian." 

Another  large  class  of  persons  who  are  totally  unfit  to 
be  at  large  are  kleptomaniacs,  dipsomaniacs,  pyromaniacs, 
epileptics  and  incendiaries.  They  should  be  placed  perma- 
nently in  an  asylum.  If  necessary  they  could  be  deported 
to  some  island,  where  many  of  them  could  be  put  to  work 
to  cultivate  the  soil. 

What  we  shall  do  with  our  unemployed  criminals  who 
roam  the  country  in  search  of  plunder  is  becoming  a  very 
serious  problem.  It  is  said  that  New  York  has  from  forty 
to  fifty  thousand  ex-criminals.  This  is  a  low  estimate. 
Whether  it  is  true  or  not  I  am  not  prepared  to  say.  At  any 
rate,  there  are  enough  to  keep  over  ten  thousand  police- 
men busy  watching  for  this  fraternity  night  and  day. 

It  is  safe  to  say  that  New  York  alone  has  a  floating  popu- 
lation of  twenty  thousand  habitual  criminals,  who  are  ready 
at  any  moment  to  commit  crime,  without  a  moment's  warn- 
ing, and  then  sail  under  a  new  name  or  leave  for  parts  un- 
known. 

There  are  also  at  least  forty  thousand  men  and  women 
habitual  misdemeanants  in  New  York,  who  have  been  in 
prison  for  small  offences,  such  as  drunkenness,  disorderly 
conduct,  assault  and  petit  larceny,  from  one  to  fifty  times, 
and  even  more.    What  is  going  to  be  done  with  these? 

The  only  remedy  for  the  twentieth  century  tramp  and 
habitual  criminal  is  either  to  cure  them,  exile  them  or  kill 
them.  What  shall  it  be?  Perhaps  the  better  and  more  hu- 
mane method  would  be  to  colonize  them  until  permanently 
reformed  and  cured.  But  while  locked  up  they  should  be 
compelled  to  work  for  their  living. 

The  obstinate  criminal  is  a  dangerous  character.  He 
lives  on  crime;  his  hand  is  against  every  man,  and  natural;  - 
in  the  interest  of  self  protection  every  man  is  against  him. 


290  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

It  can  be  said  of  the  unreformed  criminal  what  the  frontier 
man  says  of  the  Indian — "dead  Injun,  good  Injun." 

Nor  should  petty  thieves,  paupers  or  tramps  be  allowed 
to  go  at  large  under  any  circumstances.  They  are  social 
parasites  and  the  State  and  city  authorities  should  place 
them  where  they  can  be  cured  of  their  insane,  lazy  notions 
and  made  to  work  for  a  living  or  be  permanently  locked  up. 
They  have  no  more  right  to  be  at  large  than  lepers  or  yellow 
fever  patients,  as  they  defile  all  with  whom  they  come  in 
contact. 

A  well  known  prison  authority  told  me  a  short  time  ago 
that  hundreds  of  men  and  women  in  this  city  go  and  return 
from  prison  like  the  swinging  of  a  pendulum,  and  they  are 
hardly  out  of  prison  before  they  are  back  in  the  toils  again. 
What  shall  be  done  with  them?  That  is  the  question  which 
our  authorities  are  called  upon  to  answer. 

The  cost  of  crime  in  this  city  is  enormous  and,  sad  to  say, 
is  on  the  increase,  and  nothing  is  done  to  make  our  prison 
population  share  the  expenses  of  their  own  keep;  although 
it  is  well  known  that  in  deference  to  our  Labor  Leaders 
more  than  half  the  prisoners  in  the  country  are  idle  most  of 
the  time. 

We  would  suggest  that  the  inmates  of  this  colony  be 
classified  in  the  following  manner. 

1.  The  diseased.  Segregate  them  by  themselves  in  a 
charity  hospital  until  cured. 

2.  The  aged  and  infirm.    Send  them  to  the  Almshouse. 

3.  The  able-bodied  criminal  rounder.  Lock  him  up  till 
cured.  It  is  dangerous  to  keep  him  at  large.  But  make  him 
work  for  his  living. 

4.  The  chronic  tramp  and  idler.  Lock  him  up  and  make 
him  work  for  his  living. 

5.  The  habitual  drunkard.  This  man  should  be  confined 
in  a  hospital  till  cured,  and  afterwards  put  to  work. 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  201 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

THE  COST  OF  CRIME  IN  GREATER  NEW  YORK 

The  cost  of  crime  in  the  city  of  New  York  is  a  question  of 
such  vast  importance  to  the  taxpayers  as  to  seem  bewilder- 
ing. It  is  a  most  difficult  thing  to  follow  crime  into  its  var- 
ious ramifications.  If  this  could  be  done  satisfactorily,  it 
would  show  that  crime  enters  a  larger  area  than  we  think 
it  does.  The  figures  given  below  do  not  include  the  building 
of  a  new  prison  on  Riker's  Island,  which  is  a  needless  waste 
of  $4,000,000.  This,  with  many  other  steals,  can  be  laid  to 
Tammany  politics.  Kings  County  Penitentiary,  situated  on 
Crown  Street,  Brooklyn,  was  sufficient  for  all  the  needs  of 
Greater  New  York  for  many  years  to  come,  but  schemers 
desired  the  land  on  which  the  prison  was  built,  and  after 
some  time,  had  it  condemned  and  the  plant  and  the  real 
estate  sold  for  a  song! 

Next  to  the  liquor  traffic,  crime  is  our  greatest  National 
waste  for  which  there  seems  to  be  no  adequate  remedy. 
Crime  burns  the  candle  at  both  ends  as  it  affects  old  and 
young  of  both  sexes  in  its  ceaseless  undermining  of  human 
character,  aiming  at  the  moral  and  social  demoralization  of 
the  human  race. 

If  the  police  were  to  arrest  the  hundreds  of  criminals 
that  remain  at  large  every  year  in  this  city,  the  correction 
and  suppression  of  crime  would  cost  vastly  more  than  at 
the  present.  In  all  likelihood  the  expense  would  not  be  less 
than  one-fourth  of  the  entire  cost  of  carrying  on  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Greater  New  York. 

We  have  made  a  careful  study  of  the  cost  of  crime  in 


292  NEW    YORK    TOMBS 

Greater  New  York,  and  find  that  the  amount  of  money  ap- 
propriated by  the  civil  authorities,  according  to  the  figures 
of  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  since  consoli- 
dation in  1898,  has  increased  every  year.  Since  the  bor- 
oughs went  into  partnership,  and  took  the  name  of 
Greater  New  York,  crime  has  increased  from  fifty  to 
seventy-five  per  cent.  Last  year  the  number  of  arrests  in 
this  city  exceeded  that  of  the  previous  year  by  more  than 
forty  thousand,  not  to  speak  of  hundreds  of  the  most  atro- 
cious crimes  on  record,  such  as  murder,  arson,  assault,  high- 
way robbery,  burglary  and  larceny,  that  have  baffled  the 
detective  bureau  to  discover  the  perpetrators. 

Crime  shows  a  larger  increase  in  New  York  than  else- 
where, because  of  the  large  foreign  population,  although  it 
is  a  well  established  fact  that  crime  is  not  the  result  of  our 
foreign-born  people  as  much  as  of  their  children,  who  are 
classed  as  native  Americans. 

In  the  following  table  the  sums  mentioned  were  appro- 
priated by  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment  for 
1909. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  when  we  come  to  deal  with  the 
various  departments  of  the  city  government  that  are  only 
indirectly  connected  with  crime,  we  find  it  more  difficult  to 
arrive  at  correct  conclusions.  Take  for  example  the  sher- 
iff's office.  This  official's  work  is  both  civil  and  criminal. 
He  has  charge  of  the  county  jail  and  pays  for  the  support 
of  the  inmates.  He  takes  full  charge  of  indicted  prisoners 
for  felonies,  and  after  they  are  sentenced  sees  that  they 
are  safely  landed  in  State  prison  or  penitentiary.  But  he 
also  deals  with  many  civil  processes  besides.  After  mak- 
ing careful  allowance,  we  set  aside  three-fourths  of  the 
sheriff's  entire  appropriation  for  crime. 

In  the  first  statement  below  it  will  be  seen  that  all  the 
moneys  appropriated  to  the  various  departments  and  in- 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  293 

stitutions  are  spent  on  the  correction  and  repression  of 
crime  alone.    Here  are  the  official  figures : 

Department  of  Police  of  Greater  New  York  $15,195,331  00 

Department  of  Correction 1,274,957  00 

District  Attorney,  New  York 371,860  00 

District  Attorney,  Kings 106,000  00 

District  Attorney,   Queens 35,500  00 

District  Attorney,   Richmond 12,900  00 

City  Magistrates,  1st  Division  355,800  00 

City  Magistrates,  2nd  Division   328,000  00 

Special    Sessions    and    Children's    Court, 

1st   Division    134,420  00 

Special     Sessions    and     Children's    Court, 

2nd  Division   94,800  00 

General  Sessions,  New  York 291,500  00 

Juvenile    Asylum 55,005  00 

New  York   Catholic   Protectory 326,500  00 

Brooklyn  Catholic  Protectory 17,500  00 

Jewish  Protectory 50,000  00 

Brooklyn  Court  Rents,  etc 40,000  00 

Miscellaneous  Criminal  Expenses 75,000  00 


$18,765,073  00 

In  the  second  table  the  various  departments  of  the  city 
government  that  are  indirectly  connected  with  the  repress- 
ion of  crime  are  mentioned  and  only  a  certain  percentage 
allowed  for  criminal  matters. 

Sheriffs  of  Greater  New  York,  75  per  cent.  $236,301  50 
Department  of  Health,    10    per    cent,    for 

Crime    248,485  00 

Department  of  Charities,  25  per  cent,  for 

Crime    275,696  21 

Fire  Department,  calls  for  an  appropriation 

of   $8,039,565.50.      I    find    after    careful 

inquiry  that  half  of  the  fires  in  this  city 

are  caused  either  by  wilful  or  criminal 

carelessness.       Fifty    per    cent,    of    that 

appropriation  is  spent  on  crime 4,019,782  75 


294  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 

Twenty-five  per  cent,  may  safely  be  allowed 

for  the  Criminal  Expense  of  the  City  Law 

Department,  Appellate  Division,  Supreme 

Court  and   Miscellaneous  Expenses 600,000  00 

Commissioners    of    Jurors'    office,    50    per 

cent,   for   Crime 53,550  00 

Coroners'  Office,  50  per  cent,  for  Crime. .  79,850  00 

Miscellaneous   Criminal   Expenses    in    the 

Courts  of  Greater  New  York 220,000  00 

Private  Penal  Institutions  that  receive  petty 

offenders    250,000  00 


$24,748,738  46 

The  Cost  of  Crime  to  busi- 
ness men  and  corporations 
in  Greater  New  York  for 
Private  Police,  Detective 
Agencies    and    Watchmen  $6,000,000  00 

Property  stolen  and  not  re- 
covered         $5,000,000  00 

Bank  losses  by  fraud 1,500,000  00 

$12,500,000  00 
Loss  in   Wages  to   Families  of  Men   Sent 
to  Prison    5,000,000  00 


Total  Amount  spent  yearly  on  Cor- 
rection and  Repression  of  Crime  $42,248,738  46 

The  budget  for  the  present  year  calls  for  the  expenditure 
of  $156,545,148.14  to  carry  on  the  city  government.  A 
little  more  than  one  sixth  of  the  money  appropriated  by 
the  city  government  for  the  year  is  spent  on  crime. 

Admitting  then  that  the  expense  of  crime  touches  almost 
every  avenue  of  domestic  and  civic  life,  the  only  question 
is  how  long  our  national,  state  and  city  governments  can 
continue  to  pay  such  enormous  sums  for  the  maintenance 
of  police,  courts  of  justice  and  the  costliest  and  most  ex- 
pensive kind  of  prisons  and  penal  institutions  that  money 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  295 

can  build  and  furnish,  without  landing  the  country  in  ir- 
retrievable bankruptcy. 

With  all  the  loopholes  in  the  law  which  favor  the  mur- 
derer, it  costs  the  city  at  least  $10,000  on  an  average  to 
send  him  to  the  electric  chair,  or  even  to  State  prison  for 
life. 

There  are  200,000  criminals  in  the  land  to-day,  who  are 
a  burden  on  the  taxpayers  to  the  extent  of  more  than  a 
billion  dollars  a  year.  But  this  loss  to  the  country,  as  we 
have  already  intimated,  is  incomparable  with  the  greater 
loss  sustained  by  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  work  of  reach- 
ing these  brothers  in  stripes  belongs  to  the  Church,  and 
she  should  prosecute  it  continually  till  she  has  brought 
them  to  Christ  for  healing  and  saving  power. 


296  NEW    YORK   TOMBS 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

THE  AGE  OF  GRAFT. 

We  have  had  our  stone  age,  our  iron  age  and  our  steel 
age,  now  we  have  our  graft  age.  This  is  the  age  of  the 
political  highwayman  who  makes  the  city  and  her  people 
pay  him  tribute.  This  graft  comes  in  the  nature  of  per- 
quisities,  commissions  and  assessments  for  the  good  of  the 
machine  and  those  that  run  it.  The  graft  disease  first  at- 
tacked the  men  in  Congress.  The  government  paid  good 
salaries  to  all  of  its  servants  and  even  their  mileage.  But 
the  railroads  wishing  large  slices  of  the  public  domain  sent 
the  members  of  both  houses  free  passes.  After  this  other 
big  corporations  desiring  special  privileges  were  compelled 
to  graft  the  legislators  or  receive  no  favors.  Then  the  dis- 
ease attacked  our  State  law-makers,  which  in  turn  made 
everybody  pay  tribute  to  them,  especially  rich  corporations. 
To-day,  graft  is  the  bane  of  our  Municipal  Government. 
And  Tammany  Hall  has  become  the  horse  leach  that  cries, 
"Give,  Give,  and  is  never  Satisfied!"  Nor  is  there  any  need 
of  denying  the  fact  that  we  are  reaching  a  period  in  Amer- 
ican history  greatly  to  be  deplored.  Whatever  may  be 
said  of  our  extravagance  and  high  living,  it  cannot  be  de- 
nied that  New  York  is  drifting  on  the  Rocks  of  Municipal 
bankruptcy.  And  the  cause  of  it  all  is  an  insatiable  desire 
for  money,  for  which  honest  labor  is  not  given. 

With  New  York's  phenomenal  increase  in  population  and 
material  prosperity,  since  the  close  of  the  Civil  War,  the 
temptations  for  money  making  have  become  so  numerous, 
that  a  Tammany  contractor  can  find  more  wealth  in  paving 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  297 

one  of  the  streets  of  the  city  than  in  a  Klondyke  gold  mine. 
As  a  result  the  city  Government  is  now  in  the  hands  of  a 
gang  of  political-grafters,  who  are  able  to  systematize  the 
business  affairs  in  the  interest  of  the  House  of  Grafters 
on  Fourteenth  Street,  and  are  able  to  cover  their  tracks 
and  "hoodwink"  the  people. 

The  amount  of  money  appropriated  by  the  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment  as  the  running  expense  of  the  city 
for  the  year  1909  is  $156,545,148.14,  which  is  $13,722,089.- 
91  more  than  was  spent  last  year.  It  may  be  fairly  esti- 
mated that  one-half  of  this  amount  is  used  to  pay  salaries 
of  all  city  employes  and  the  other  half  the  yearly  supplies, 
such  as  coal,  books,  stationery,  printing,  wagons,  fire  en- 
gines, rents,  etc.,  etc.  From  all  of  the  supplies  furnished  to 
the  various  departments,  a  commission  of  from  twenty  per 
cent,  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  reaches  the  men  higher  up, 
taking  a  circuitous  route  to  do  so,  but  it  gets  there  beyond 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt.  This  money  is  never  given  as  a 
commission,  but  as  a  gift  to  the  organization,  so  as  to  keep 
within  the  law.  In  round  numbers  these  commissions 
will  amount  to  not  less  than  $12,000,000  a  year.  No  one  will 
deny  that  nearly  all  the  Tammany  employes  of  the  city 
government  pay  into  the  organization  yearly  not  less  than 
twenty  per  cent,  of  their  salaries.  Sometimes  they  are  as- 
sessed from  five  dollars  and  five  thousand  dollars,  and  if 
they  refuse  to  pay,  they  are  black-listed  and  afterwards 
"bounced."  Twenty  per  cent,  of  graft  from  the  wages  of 
city  employes  would  amount  to  not  far  from  $12,000,000  a 
year. 

Then  there  is  enormous  graft  from  the  purchase  of  real 
estate,  school  houses  and  other  buildings  for  the  city, 
bridges,  paving  of  streets,  sewers,  public  improvements, 
etc,  etc.,  $12,000,000  of  which  will  eventually  reach  the 
house  of  grafters  on  Fourteenth  Street. 

We  have  said  nothing  about  the  police  graft,  which,  to 


298  NEW   YORK   TOMBS 

use  the  most  conservative  figures,  will  amount  to  at  least 
$20,000,000  a  year.  The  larger  part  of  this  reaches  the 
house  of  grafters  and  is  used  for  the  purpose  of  buying 
elections  and  paying  idle  retainers  who  work  for  the  or- 
ganization around  a  November  election.  In  the  collection 
of  this  graft,  brewers,  malsters,  saloon  keepers,  merchants, 
builders,  contractors,  the  great  shipping  interests  of  the 
city,  dives,  pool-rooms  and  baudy-houses  all  pay  tribute. 
Even  bootblacks,  cabmen  and  push  cart  men  have  all  to 
contribute  to  save  themselves  from  petty  annoyances. 
Using  the  most  careful  figures,  from  sixty  to  seventy  mil- 
lion dollars  a  year  is  spent  in  graft. 

Gen.  Bingham,  in  a  newspaper  article,  estimates  the  city 
graft  at  a  $100,000,000  a  year.  Our  figures  are  less  as  we 
wish  to  keep  on  the  safe  side! 

Everybody  knows  that  street  railroads,  gas  companies  and 
big  corporations  of  every  name  can  tear  up  our  streets  and 
leave  them  in  a  dangerous  condition  for  months,  but  that 
could  not  be  done  without  paying  "graft"  to  some  persons! 

Nearly  forty  years  ago  Boss  Tweed  got  away  with  some- 
thing like  four  million  dollars  from  the  city  of  New  York. 
This  startled  the  entire  country.  But  when  Mr.  Croker 
went  to  Europe  a  few  years  ago,  he  is  said  by  the  "Boys" 
to  have  taken  with  him  a  fortune  of  fifteen  millions  cash! 
Tweed's  roll  looks  more  like  thirty  cents  alongside  of 
Croker's,  and  his  successor,  Charley  Murphy,  shows  no 
signs  of  poverty  thus  far.  If  there  is  a  bigger  grafting  in- 
stitution in  the  country  than  this  place  on  Fourteenth 
Street,  we  would  like  to  know  where  it  is. 

There  are  many  ways  whereby  money  can  be  used  to 
advantage  in  enriching  and  bribing  city  officials  in  return 
for  favors  that  the  temptations  to  use  graft  are  very  great. 
Ordinarily,  when  we  speak  of  graft,  we  mean  the  payment 
of  money  or  its  equivalent,  to  some  public  official  or  even  a 
member  of  his  family  who  is  willing  in  return  to  perform 


INSIDE  AND  OUT  299 

a  dishonest  act  or  wink  at  the  violation  of  law.  A  consider- 
able amount  of  graft  is  received  in  the  form  of  gifts  and  tips 
for  favors  given  indirectly  in  one  way  or  another,  that  can- 
not be  considered  criminal.  Still  no  business  man  is  will- 
ing to  tip  an  employe  of  the  city  government  without  ex- 
pecting some  favors  in  return. 

What  the  average  city  official  receives  as  gifts  and  gratui- 
ties are  insignificant  compared  to  what  the  "big  grafters" 
receive  who  are  the  leaders  of  our  political  organizations, 
from  rich  corporations  and  railroads  and  for  fat  contracts, 
franchises  and  special  privileges  which  are  worth  millions 
of  dollars. 

A  few  years  ago  the  Lexow  and  Mazet  investigators,  who 
exposed  this  graft  plague  in  the  city  government,  showed 
that  many  persons  in  the  police  department,  from  the  high- 
est officials  down  to  patrolmen,  were  in  the  business  for 
"Graft"  and  all  favors  and  promotions  cost  money.  It  also 
became  known  that  a  captaincy  cost  as  high  as  $17,000  to 
$20,000,  and  sometimes  much  higher.  But  the  bi-partisan 
political  character  of  the  Board  was  mainly  responsible  for 
this  shameful  corruption.  Under  Gen.  Bingham  all  this 
was  done  away,  and  merit  ruled  the  department. 

For  several  years  police  officials  have  been  involved  in 
"Graft  Scandals,"  and  after  their  retirement  from  the 
department  were  found  to  be  immensely  rich,  besides 
having  large  real  estate  interests.  This  condition  of  affairs 
has  gone  on  so  many  years  that  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
force  are  not  satisfied  now  with  their  regular  salary,  and 
demand  graft  for  protecting  the  "gin  mill,"  the  "immoral 
house,"  the  pool  room  and  the  "gambling  hell,"  all  of 
which  brings  an  enormous  revenue.  In  some  cases  every- 
body in  the  block  is  called  upon  to  pay  tribute,  and  woe  be 
to  the  one  that  refuses. 

A  man  named  G ,  from  Chicago,  who  was  ar- 
rested in  the  lower  part  of  the  city  for  intoxication,  told  me, 


300  NEW   YORK    TOMBS 

when  he  was  in  the  station  house,  he  could  remember  dis- 
tinctly the  cop  going  through  his  pockets;  when  he  came  to 
himself  next  morning  he  found  he  was  minus  a  diamond 
ring  and  some  bills.  The  police  had  relieved  him  of  all  his 
money.  When  he  called  for  his  money  he  had  his  face 
punched. 

There  have  been  times  when  by  the  free  use  of  graft,  in- 
side information  including  secrets  that  are  supposed  to  be 
carefully  guarded  by  the  officials  in  the  controller's  office, 
tax  office,  corporation  counsel's  office,  board  of  education, 
office  of  the  coroner  and  other  departments,  have  been  giv- 
en away  by  grafters  to  men  who  reaped  thousands  of  dol- 
lars thereby. 

A  grafting  contractor  can  afford  to  pay  a  dishonest  mu- 
nicipal employe  a  thousand  dollars,  or  even  five  thousand 
dollars,  for  the  information  that  will  enable  him  to  secure 
the  job  to  build  sewers  or  pave  streets,  erect  a  school  house 
or  build  a  bridge  or  a  reservoir.  Often  "fake"  bids  are 
made  so  as  to  secure  the  work  to  a  ring  of  speculators  who 
in  the  end  reap  millions. 

The  new  water  works  for  this  city  will  cost  at  least  $250,- 
000,000.  Tammany  Commissioners  make  fifty  dollars  a 
day.  If  they  work  twenty- four  days  in  a  month  they  get 
$1,200.  That  is  big  money  to  men  who  are  only  laborers  in 
intellect! 


